Hymns 


ant) 


Singfers 


Of  tbe 


1^.  iSi.  c.  B. 


Rev.  James  H.  Ross, 
Cambridge^  Mass. 


Published  with  the  sanction  of  the  International 
Jubilee  Convention  Committee,  1901 


Arakelyan  Press. 


r 


It  was  a  happy  thought  which  led  Rev. 
James  H.  Ross  to  publish  Hymns  and  Singers 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Xot  only  is  the  theme  a 
fruitful  one,  but  its  author  has  apparently 
canvassed  with  thoroughness  a  field  not  pre- 
viously covered.  The  growth  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.,  its  use  of  hyinns,  the  stimulus  they  have 
given  to  the  growth  of  "the  music  that  helps," 
the  hymns  and  singers  of  the  Jubilee  Conven- 
tion, hymns  of  the  soldiers,  association  hym- 
nists,  singers  and  composers,  including,  the  la- 
mented hymn-loving  secretary,  R.  R.  McBur- 
ney,  are  among  the  topics  treated.  The  whole 
makes  a  booklet  of  nearly  eighty  pages  with 
illustrations.  The  frontispiece  is  a  picture  of 
P^ben  Tourjee,  who  originated  the  praise  serv- 
ice in  ISjI. 


Digitized  by  tlie  Internet  Arcliive 
in  2013 


http://arcliive.org/details/hngersofyoOOross 


i_ 


Q)a-c^ 


Originator   of   Praise   Service    185 1. 
President  of  Boston  Association  1871-2. 


HYMNS  AND  SINGERS 


.  ,  APR  26  1937  ^ 

OF  THE  V*^  c<> 


U937 

Logical  8t^ 


Young  Men's  Christian  Association 


THE  JUBILEE,  l8vl-1S01 


By         v^ 

REV.  JAMES  H.  ROSS, 

Cambridge, 

Mass. 


Prepared  with  the  sanxtion  of 

The  International  Jubilee  Convention  Committee 

1901 


BOSTON 

Xlbe  pilgrim  press 

CHICAGO 


Copyrighted  iqoi,  by  Rev.  James  H.  Ross. 

All  rights  reserved 


DEDICATED  TO 

AND 

of  Mlustt 


Table  of  Contents 


I.  Hymnal  History  of  the  Boston  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

II.  The  Convention  Hymns  and  Singers   . 

III.  Occasional  Hymns 

IV.  The  Hymns  of  the  Soldiers 
V.  A  Hymn  Loving  Secretary.  R.  R.  McBurney 

VI.  Association  Hymnists.  Sincjers  and  Composers 

VII.  The  Future  of  Hymns  and  Singers     . 


13 

25 
38 
46 
61 
64 
76 


PREFACE 

Justin  McCarthy,  in  his  "History  of  our  own  Times,"  says  that  a 
great  many  remarkable  events  occurred  in  the  year  1851.  It  was  the 
year  in  which  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  oiriginated  in  Montreal  and  in  Boston, 
and  thereby  in  North  America,  inclusive  of  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  That  year  was  the  beginning  of  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  It  was  fitting  that  new  men  and  institutions,  new  movements 
and  methods,  should  be  born.  There  was  a  poetic  providence  in  such 
origins.  The  year  was  a  transition  year  from  the  first  to  the  second 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Intrinsically  and  relatively  its  impor- 
tance in  chronology  and  history  is  obvious.  This  is  true  with  reference 
to  modern  sacred  poetry  and  to  hymnology  and  to  hymn-tunes,  and  to 
popular,  evangelistic  music.  A  long  look  backward,  as  far  backward  as 
the  time  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  enables  us  to  discern  that  music 
held  a  secondary  place  in  Protestant  church  services,  which  in  those 
days  were  churches  of  ''the  standing  order,"  Congregational  churches. 
Professor  Louis  C.  Elson,*  of  the  New  England  Conservatory  of  Music, 
Boston,  says  that  ''a  church  choir  would  have  been  held  in  abomina- 
tion by  the  early  Pilgrims."  The  familiar  facts  are  that  the  Puritans 
were  opposed  to  the  use  of  the  organ  in  church  services,  that  they  had 
inherited  the  Calvinistic  distaste,  in  Continental  Europe  and  Great 
Br''i-)in,  for  church  music,  that  the  hymnal  which  the  Pilgrims  brought 
to  these  shores  was  'The  Booke  of  Psalms:  EngHshed  both  in  Prose  and 
Metre,"  printed  at  Amsterdam,  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Ainsworth,  in  1612. 
The  Psalms  were  translations  from  the  Hebrew.  The  book  contained 
musical  notes.  Two  psalms  had  been  customary  in  Holland,  in  the 
order  of  church  service.  Five  only  of  the  tunes  in  Ainsworth's  book 
were  commonly  sung,  two  of  which  were  "Old  Hundred(th)"  and  "Wind- 
sor." In  Boston,  only  one  psalm  was  sung  in  the  earliest  days  and  serv- 
ices. Progress  in  hymnology  and  in  sacred  music  was  very  slow,  and 
uniformly  in  the  face  of  opposition.  The  clergy  were  reformers  and 
were  obliged  to  encounter  the  criticisms  commonly  bestowed  upon 
leaders  and  innovators.     Singing  by  note  and  the  formation  of  choirs 


*'The  National  Music  of  America," L.  C.  Page  &  Co..  Boston.  1900. 


10  PREFACE 

were  reforms  and  signs  and  stages  of  progress.  It  was  aljout  one  hun- 
dred years  l)efore  the  origin  of  the  Y.  AI.  C.  A.  when  the  first  church 
choirs  were  organized.  Books  of  sacred  music  followed.  The  first 
American  edition  of  Watts'  Psalms  was  published  in  Boston,  1741,  ex- 
actly no  years  before  the  Alontreal  and  Boston  Y.  ^I.  C.  A.'s  were 
organized.  The  first  pipe  organ  in  a  New  England  church  was 
set  up  about  171 3,  in  King's  Chapel,  corner  of  School  and  Tremont 
Streets,  Boston,  and  is  said  to  be  in  possession  of  St.  John's  Churcli, 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  good  condition.  In  1770,  a  Congregational 
church  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  for  the  first  time  in  American  history,  al- 
lowed an  organ  to  be  used  in  its  service.  William  Billings  (1746-1800) 
was  the  first  American  composer,  the  first  to  introduce  the  violoncello  in 
New  England  churches,  and  the  pitch-pipe  "to  set  the  tune."  Oliver 
Holden  (1765- 1792)  the  author  of  the  tune  "Coronation,"  was  among 
the  first  to  use  music  type  in  Boston.  The  piano  in  Boston  was  a  great 
rarity  in  the  year  1800.  Lowell  Alason  (i 792-1872)  was  the  father  of  the 
modern  musical  convention.  The  Stoughton  Musical  Society,  the  first 
to  be  organ  "zed  in  New  England,  was  established  Nov.  17,  1786.  The 
first  concert  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  of  Boston,  was  given  in 
1815;  and  in  1818  the  same  society  gave  the  first  complete  performance 
of  an  oratorio  in  America.  Gottlieb  Graupner,  the  father  of  the  orches- 
tra in  this  country,  came  to  Boston  in  1798. 

Hymn-writing  in  the  United  States  began  w^ith  the  nineteenth  century. 
Previous  to  that  period  only  metrical  versions  of  the  Psalms  were  in  use, 
of  which  the  first  collection  was  the  Bay  Psalm  Book,  or  New  England 
version,  published  in  1640.  At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  many 
editions  of  Isaac  Watts'  Psalms  and  Hymns  were  in  use.  Nothing 
native  ^vas  available.  Gradually  the  Psalms  were  replaced  by  hynms. 
Thus  far,  scarcely  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  hymns  selected  by  com- 
pilers and  leaders  of  w^orship  are  American.  Neither  English  nor 
American  hymns  were  used  until  President  Timothy  Dwight.  D.D., 
(1752-1817)  led  the  way.  American  Methodists  have  borrowed  whole- 
sale the  hymns  of  the  Wesleys,  but  American  Methodism  itself  dates 
from  the  Conference  in  Baltimore  in  1784. 

This  brief  review  of  the  history  of  music  and  of  hymnology  in 
America  is  the  historic  background  for  the  realization  of  the  fact  that 
''the  praise-meeting,"  as  people  know  it  who  were  born  when  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  w^as  born,  or  since  that  time,  is  essentially  modern,  recent,  young. 
It  might  be  supposed  that  it  was  of  ancient  origin,  or  that  it  existed  in 
the  days  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  or  in  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth centurv.     But  the  facts  are  that  it  was  an  inventi'jn,  not  a  discov- 


PREFACE  11 

ery,  that  its  originator  was  Eben  Tourjee  (1834-1891),  best  known  as  tlie 
founder  of  the  New  England  Conservatory  of  Music  in  Boston,  1867.  In 
1 85 1,  when  he  was  a  youth  of  seventeen,  and  Hving  in  Warren,  R.  I.,  he 
conceived  and  executed  the  plan  of  the  praise-meeting,  technically  so 
called.  He  held  meetings  for  praise.  He  soon  united  the  congregation, 
the  choir  and  the  Sabbath-schools  in  what  he  called  ''sings."  With  the 
approval  of  Lowell  Mason  and  George  Webb,  two  musical  pioneers  and 
leaders,  he  gave  them  the  name  of  praise-meetings.  His  aim  was  to  blend 
responsive  Scripture  readings  on  a  given  theme  with  responsive  singing 
by  the  congregation,  and  to  preserve  a  logical  order  in  the  musical  and 
devotional  program.  A  variety  of  such  services  has  been  held  since, 
inclusive  of  the  widely  prevailing  song-service  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Mr.  Toujee  was  president  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  Boston,  in  1871-2. 

The  history  of  psalmody,  of  hymnology,  of  church  music,  is  perpetu- 
ated and  illustrated  in  part  in  the  history  of  the  Y.  ]\1.  C.  A.  It  is  un- 
known and  unwritten.  Now  is  the  time  for  learning  it  and  writing  it, 
for  this  is  the  Jubilee  Year  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  its  fiftieth  anniversary. 
There  is  enough  of  it  to  deserve  attention.  It  is  a  phase  of  the  history 
which  the  writer  alone,  so  far  as  he  is  aware,  has  had  in  mind.  Those 
most  familiar  with  Y.  M.  C.  A.  history  have  said  that  the  facts  are  few 
and  insignificant.  Let  the  facts  speak  for  themselves.  They  are  not  few 
for  the  period  covered,  they  are  not  unimportant,  they  belong  to  a  distinct 
era  in  the  history  of  Christian  union  and  of  Protestant  American  evan- 
gelism. Nevertheless,  it  is  not  easy  to  state  the  history  in  chronological 
order,  nor  in  philosophical  form,  because  this  is  the  first  half-century  of 
Association  history,  when  the  materials  of  history  have  been  made  but 
not  completely  collected,  although  there  is  a  line  Y.  M.  C.  A.  historical 
library  in  SpringfieFd,  Mass.  Such  a  beginning  is  here  made  as  has  been 
possible  in  a  brief  time  for  preparation  and  production.  It  is  a  very 
modest  one,  but  it  is  a  beginning  and  a  suggestion  for  the  future  workers 
and  historians  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  The  motto  of  the  Boston  Association 
is  'Teneo  et  teneor."  I  hold  to  the  singers  and  the  songs,  the  standard 
English  and  American  hymnists,  and  the  simpler  but  possibly  more  influ- 
ential Gospel  Songs  that  have  encircled  the  Association  services  for  fifty 
years  and  have  made  the  tour  of  the  globe,  in  many  lands  and  languages. 
The  writer  has  been  held  spellbound  by  them,  as  he  has  ranged  over 
the  literature  of  the  "subject,  hymnal,  biographical,  reportorial,  conven- 
tional and  ecclesiastical.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  sung  ''the  hymns  that 
have  helped,"  and  no  other  hymns.  The  fact  that  they  have  helped  is  a 
sufBcient  excuse  for  the  singing;  it  is  a  vindication  of  their  authors 
against  all  critics  and  hypercritics,  who  prefer  art  to  nature,  and  things 


12  PREFACE 

to  human  nature.  The  blowing-  of  this  Jubilee  trumpet  is  a  doxology 
an  ascription  and  shout  of  praise  to  God,  vocal  and  instrumental,  per 
sonal  and  historical.     It  is  nothing  more;  it  is  nothing  less. 

JAMES  H.  ROSS. 
1/  Lancaster  St.,  No.  Cambridge,  Mass.,  June  i,  1901. 


HYMNS  AND  SINGERS  OF  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


CHAPTER  I 
HYMXAL    HISTORY    OF    THE    BOSTON    Y.    M.     C.    A. 

The  history  begins  December  15th,  185 1,  when  the  first  meeting  was 
held  for  the  organization  of  the  Boston  Association,  in  the  Central  Con- 
gregational Church  on  Winter  Street.  It  expanded  with  the  history  of  the 
Boston  Association,  with  the  Association  movement,  with  the  Interna- 
tional Conventions,  with  the  Gospel  Songs  and  singers.  It  will  cease 
to  expand  when  the  last  Y.  M.  C.  A.  closes  its  doors  and  work  with  a 
dirge. 

The  meeting  of  December  15th  was  in  the  organ-loft  of  the  Central 
Congregational  Church,  because  the  key  to  the  vestry  was  inaccessible. 
The  place  was  appropriate  and  providential.  It  may  be  construed  as  typi- 
cal of  the  hymnal  and  musical  history  of  the  Association,  for  many  melo- 
dies were  to  be  occasioned  in  the  progress  of  the  history;  numerous 
hymns  were  to  be  written,  and  innumerable  singers  were  to  be  utilized. 
The  service  of  song  was  to  become  historic  and  to  encircle  the  globe 
practically  on  every  day  or  evening  of  the  week. 

We  are  reminded  by  these  facts  of  the  hymn  written  in  1849  by  James 
^lontgomery  (1771-1854),  who'  was  asked  by  the  Church  Alissionary  So- 
ciety of  the  Church  of  England,  on  the  occasion  of  its  Jubilee,  to  write  a 
missionary  hymn  which  was  to  be  translated  into  all  :he  languages  in 
which  the  gospel  had  been  preached  and  was  to  be  sung,  and  was  sung, 
by  its  members  or  representatives  at  the  same  time  in  all  the  lands  under 
heaven.    The  hymn  was 

"'Jlie  King  of  glory  we  proclaim." 

The  original  meetings  for  the  organization  of  the  Boston  Association, 
three  of  which  were  held  in  the  month  of  December,  185 1,  were  neces- 
sarily business  meetings  to  consider  whether  there  should  be  an  Associa- 
tion, and  what  its  constitution  and  by-laws  should  be,  and  who  should 
constitute  its  first  board  of  officers ;  but  the  Association  was  ushered  into 
being  in  an  atmosphere  of  praise  and  prayer.     It  was  a  novel  experience, 


14  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  }L  C.  A. 

ill  some  respects,  to  hear  the  classic  Christian  hymns,  including  the  dox- 
ology,  sung-  by  male  voices,  and  this  fact  was  referred  to  by  some  of  those 
present  when  the  beginnings  of  Association  life  were  made. 

The  first  rooms  of  the  Boston  Association  were  in  the  fourth  story  of 
the  building  on  the  south-east  corner  of  Washington  and  Summer  Streets. 
They  were  dedicated  March  nth,  1852,  and  the  hymnal  program  con- 
sisted, first,  of  an  original  hymn  by  O.  W.  Withington,  Esq.,  sung  to  the 
tune  of  ''Greenville."  It  consisted  of  four  eight-line  stanzas.  The  first 
stanza  expressed  the  spirit  of  welcome  in  the  pleasant  union;  the  second 
characterized  the  place  as  a  suitable  one  for  the  youthful  soul, 

"no  longer 
Blest  by  Home's  endearing  ties." 

This  was  expressive  of  the  chief  idea  of  the  originators,  which  was  that 
the  Association  should  be  a  home  for  young  men  who  had  left  the  country 
to  risk  and  acquire  fame  and  fortune  in  the  city.  A  large  majority  of 
those  who  were  present  at  the  original  meetings  were  found  to  have  been 
born  in  the  country;  this  fact  being  brought  out  by  first  asking  those 
who  liad  been  born  there  to  rise,  and  then  those  who  had  been  born  in  the 
city.  i 

The  third  stanza  invoked  a  blessing  on  the  Association,  "its  object  and 
its  end,"  and  this  blessing  surely  has  been  realized.  The  last  stanza  was 
expressive  of  praise  to  God — 

"The  One,  whose  Blessing  ever 

iMakes  the  feeble  purpose  strong." 

An  original  hymn  by  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigourney,  (1791-1865),  to  the 
tune  of  "Alarlow,"  was  the  great  feature  of  the  hymnal  program.  Mrs.  Sig- 
ourney was  then  the  first  female  poet  of  America,  and  ranked  with  Mrs. 
Felicia  D.  Hemans  of  England.  She  took  a  great  interest  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Association,  and  contributed  her  works,  in  prose  and  verse, 
to  the  Association  library.  Her  home  was  in  Hartford,  Conn.  She  was 
then  widely  know^n  as  the  author  of  four  hymns  whose  first  lines  were: 
'AVhen  adverse  winds  and  waves  arise,"  ''Blest  Comforter  divine,"  "On- 
ward, onward,  men  of  heaven,"  "Laborers  of  Christ,  arise."  Some  of 
these  are  still  in  common  use.  Her  hymn  for  the  dedication  of  the  rooms 
of  the  Association  was  as  follows: 

God  of  our  children,  hear  our  prayer. 

When  from  their  homes  they  part, 
Those  idols  of  our  fondest  care, 

Those  jewels  of  the  heart. 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A.  15 

We  miss  their  smile  in  hall  and  bower. 

We  miss  their  voice  of  cheer. 
We  speak  their  names  at  midnight  hour, 

When  none  but  Thou  dost  hear. 

God  of  their  spirits  :  be  their  stay, 

When  from  the  parents'  side 
Their  boat  is  launched,  to  find  its  way 

O'er  life's  tempestuous  tide. 

Tho'  toss'd  'mid  breakers  wild  and  strong. 

Its  veering  helm  should  stray 
Where  sirens  wake  the  mermaid  song — 

Guide  thou  their  course,  alway. 

O  God  of  goodness  : — bless  the  band. 

Who,  moved  by  Christian  love. 
Take  the  young  stranger's  friendless  hand. 

And  lead  his  thoughts  above. 

May  their  own  souls  the  sunbeam  feel 

They  thus  have  freely  given. 
And  be  the  plaudit  of  their  zeal 

The  sweet  "Well  done"  of  Heaven. 

Two  familiar  hymns  were  sung,  one, 

"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds," 

to  the  tune  of  "St.  Thomas."  The  hymn  was  written  by  the  Rev.  John  Faw- 
cett,  (1739-1817),  of  Wainsgate,  Eng.,  who  had  been  caUed  to  a  pastorate 
in  London  and  had  accepted;  his  goods  were  packed  and  loaded  for  re- 
moval, but  the  people  were  so  importunate  in  their  desire  to  have  him 
remain,  that  he  yielded  to  their  entreaties,  and  said  to  his  wife  that  ties 
so  strong  ought  not  to  be  broken,  and  then  he  wrote  the  hymn.  One 
form  of  it  is: 

"Blest  is  the  tie  that  binds." 

It  has  always  been  a  hymn  of  fellowship,  not  so  much  betvveen  pastor  and 
people,  according  to  its  origin,  as  between  Christians  of  different  com- 
munions. Hence  the  propriety  of  using  it  when  a  new  Christian  Associa- 
tion was  forming.  It  became,  as  we  shall  see,  a  convention  hymn  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  the  reasons  are  apparent  from  these  facts. 

The  concluding  hymn  was  Bishop  Ken's  doxology.  Charles  Demond, 
a  charter  member  of  the  Association,  and  a  leader  in  its  origin,  who  was 
its  president  in  1857-8,  wrote  an  account  of  the  dedication  meeting  for 


16  HVMXS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A. 

"The  Congregationalist,"  in  which  he  said  that  as  the  doxology  and  Old 
Hundred  "rose  from  the  mass  of  yoimg  men,  it  was  as  though  God  was 
present  by  his  divine  Spirit  sanctifying  and  consecrating  the  rooms.'' 

The  hymnists  whose  hymns  were  used  at  the  time  of  the  dedication 
were  Baptist  and  Episcopahan  or  Church  of  England.  They  were  local, 
national  and  international  in  reputation.  The  fellowship  thus  expressed 
in  the  selection  of  hymns  and  hymn-writers  was  aniother  typical  fact,  for 
Christian  imion  was  the  watchword  of  the  hour,  and  the  expression  of 
it  under  the  conditions  then  prevailing  was  a  comparatively  new^  and 
uncommon  experience.  It  was  itself  a  revival.  The  previous  ten  years 
in  the  history  of  American  Christianity  had  been  divisive;  the  whole  at- 
mosphere of  Boston  and  New  England,  ecclesiastically  considered,  had 
been  controversial. 

The  audience  which  sang  those  hymns  numbered  between  seven  and 
eight  hundred  people,  and  most  of  them  were  young  men.  The  clergy  of 
the  denominations  which  supported  the  Association  w^ere  well  repre- 
sented; those  denominations  were  Baptist,  Episcopal,  Congregational 
and  Methodist,  and  w^ere  commonly  called  evangelical.  Among  the 
prominent  clergy  were  the  venerable  Lyman  Beecher,  then  pastor  of 
Park  Street  Church,  and  Bishop  Eastburn,  then  Bishop  of  J\Iassa- 
chusetts.  Bishop  Eastburn  w-as  a  poet,  and,  in  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  Association,  wrote  a  number  of  hymns  and  poems  which  w^ere  sold 
at  the  Christmas  fair  in  1858  and  at  other  bazaars  and  festivals  which  were 
held  during  the  fifties.  One  of  these  was  a  Sabbath  evening  hymn.  The 
manuscripts  were  offered  for  sale. 

Mrs.  Sigourney  wrote  another  hymn  for  the  Association  on  its  eighth 
anniversary,  May  23rd,  1859,  in  Tremont  Temple.     It  was  as  follows: 


Eight  years  !  eight  years  !  with  grateful  hearts 

Our  birthday,  Lord,  we  keep, 
And  join  to  praise  the  quickening  Hand 

1"liat  liroke  our  infant  sleep, — 


And  onward  in  a  blessed  path, 

Where  love  and  duty  meet 
And  hope,  like  song-birds,  cheers  the  way 

Allured  our  early  feet. 


So  bid  our  adolescence.  Lord, 
Still  in  thy  strength  rejoice. 

And  bring  to  full  maturity 
The  purpose  of  our  choice. 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.         17 

And  if  a  patriarchal  date 

We  through  thy  grace  attain, 
May  every  added  year  enhance 

Our  wisdom,  and  its  gain  ! 

Nor  ever  let  this  hallowed  zeal 

To  save  our  race  decline. 
But  gather  fresh  supplies  from  Thee, 

For  all  the  good  is  thine. 

Another  hymn  for  the  same  occasion  was  written  by  Rev.  Elijah  Kel- 
logg, the  well  known  writer  for  boys,  who  has  died  w^ithin  the  past  year. 
It  was  sung  to  the  tune  of  "Balerma,"  which  was  composed  by  Robert 
Simpson  (1790-1832)  of  Scotland,  and  arranged  by  Lowell  Mason. 

At  the  opening  of  the  National  Theatre  for  the  third  time  under  the 
direction  of  the  Association,  the  Rev.  D.  C.  Eddy,  of  the  Harvard  Street 
Baptist  Church,  in  a  distinct  voice  read  the  hymn  commencing 

"All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name, 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall," 

which  the  great  congregation  joined  in  singing.  The  contemporary 
newspaper  account  of  the  incident  said  that  the  fact  of  so  many  voices 
joining  in  unison  was  thrilHng.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  singing,  the 
Rev.  Phineas  Stowe  of  the  Seaman's  Bethel  offered  a  fervent  prayer  in 
which  he  alluded  to  the  place  and  its  associations  and  uses.  Another 
hymn  that  was  printed  on  slips  of  paper  and  distributed  among  the  audi- 
ence, was  the  familiar  one,  "Return,  O  wanderer,  return,"  by  Rev.  W. 
B.  Collyer  (1782-1853),  of  England,  and  was  sung  to  the  favorite  tune  of 
"Uxbridge." 

There  are  cumulative  evidences  that  the  officials  of  the  Association 
were  men  of  taste  and  sentiment,  in  artistic,  literary,  poetic  and  hymnal 
matters.  They  were  on  the  alert  for  original  hymns,  for  the  uses  of 
hymns  in  promoting  the  power  of  services,  and  generating  spiritual  life 
in  Christians  and  non-Christians.  It  was  felicitous  in  this  respect  that  a 
man  like  L.  P.  Rowland  should  be  selected  as  the  Association's  first  gen- 
eral secretary,  who  served  from  1859  to  1873.  He  was  a  hymn-lover,  and 
the  fact  appears  more  or  less  constantly  in  his  work,  as  it  did  afterward  in 
the  career  of  the  great  secretary  of  the  New  York  Association,  Robert  R. 
McBurney. 

The  Association  became  accustomed  to  print  sheets  of  familiar  hvmns 
to  be  used  in  many  of  its  services,  especially  those  in  the  ojien  air. 

Durirg  the  war,  as  soon  as  the  Christian  Commission  had  been  or- 
ganized, the  Association,  in  common  with  several  of  the  leading  Associa- 


18 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A 


tions  in  the  great  cities,  such  as  Xew  York  and  Chicago,  issued  a  Sol- 
diers' Hymn-Book,  of  which  250,000  copies  were  circulated. 

Charles  Demond,  the  most  active  member  of  the  Boston  Association 
in  forwarding  the  work  of  the  Christian  Commission  in  186 1-5,  sat  on  the 
Exchange  in  Boston  with  E.  S.  Tobey,  after  the  battles  of  Gettysl)urg,  the 
Wilderness,  and  after  the  taking  of  Richmond,  to  receive  the  voluntary 
offerings  of  the  people  for  the  relief  of  the  wounded.  No  one  was  asked 
to  give;  no  attempt  was  made  to  awaken  enthusiasm  except  l)y  giving 
notice  in  each  day's  papers  of  the  sums  given.  It  was  a  movement  of  the 
pce-ple.  At  times  there  was  a  crowd  around  the  tables,  and  many  were 
waiting  their  turn  to  give.  When  they  were  receiving  money  after  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  one  day  there  was  written  upon  the  great  black- 
board upon  which  were  put  the  telegraph  dispatches,  "\'icksburg  has  sur- 
rendered. U.  S.  Grant."  Instantly  shouts  went  up  from  the  assembled 
merchants.  They  all  uncovered  and  joined  in  singing  "Praise  God,  from 
whom  all  blessings  flow."  Some  one  said,  "Let  us  show  our  gratitude  by 
our  gifts,"  and  the  crowd  came  to  the  table,  and  for  some  time  they  could 
not  take  the  money  as  fast  as  it  was  offered.  Contributions  soon  began  to 
come  in  by  mail  on  each  of  the  occasions  mentioned,  and  continued  after 
the  receivers  had  left  the  Exchange  until  the  funds  received  w^ere  $100,- 
000,  $60,000  and  $50,000. 

Secretary  Rowland,  in  1867,  published  a  "Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hymn-Book" 
under  the  imprint  of  the  American  Tract  Society.     He  pleaded  for  short 

h\  mns.  The  British  custom  is  to  sing  ever}- 
verse  of  a  hymn,  however  long.  The  Amer- 
ican custom  is  to  omit  stanzas.  Secretary 
Rowland  thought  that,  generally,  two 
stanzas  at  a  time  are  sufficient  and  that 
often  one  is  enough,  especially  if  the  singing- 
is  spontaneous,  the  tune  familiar,  not  re- 
({uiring  the  loss  of  a  moment  in  turning  the 
leaves  of  the  book.  He  also  thought  that 
the  hymn  should  not  be  read  through,  ex- 
cept occasionally,  for  a  sjjecial  purpose, 
when  one  would  emphasize  its  meaning. 
1'he  hymns  were  analogous  to  those  that 
gave  life  to  the  extem])orized  prayer-meet- 
ings of  1857,  the  influence  of  which  still 
lived  in  the  spontaneous  song- worship  of 
the  Cnited  States.  0])inions  differ  on  the  uses  of  hymns.  Secretary  Row- 
Ian:!  wanted  animation,  life,  as  well  as  harmony  and  1)eaut\-,  in  consonance 


L.  F.  ROWLAND, 
First  Association  Compilei 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A.  19 

with  the  whole  spirit  of  tlie  Y.  M.  C.  A.    He  itahcized  his  hymnal  motto 
and  punctuated  it  with  exclamation  points.     It  was: — 

''Do  something!  do  it  noiv!  with  all  thy  might! 
An  angel's  wing  would  droop  if  long  at  rest, 
And  God  himself  inactive  were  no  longer  blest !" 

The  words  and  tunes  Avere  printed  separately ;  some  of  the  composers 
were  William  B.  Bradbury,  George  F.  Root  and  Lowell  Mason.  The 
hymn-book  contained  martial  hymns,  patriotic  and  temperance  hymns. 
The  fruits  of  the  war  were  in  evidence  in  the  patriotic  hymns.  The 
book  was  a  creditable  piece  of  compilation  for  the  object  aimed  at. 

At  one  of  the  services  of  the  Association  in  May,  1867,  a  Christian 
young  man  related  his  experience  of  success  in  a  case  of  personal  effort 
which  he  had  made,  and  he  called  upon  all  to  be  active  in  the 
service  cf  Christ,  in  the  daily  walks  of  business.  At  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  a  lady  gave  a  paper  to  him  with  the  following  lines  in  it,  say- 
ing, "How  applicable  to  what  you  said!"  We  give  it  here,  as  an  appeal 
to  every  member  to  act  for  Christ: 

LOST  SHEEP 

BY    THE   AUTHOR    OF   "yOUR   MISSION  " 

How  many  sheep  are  straying. 

Lost  from  the  Saviour's  fold  ! 
Upon  the  lonely  mountains. 

They  shiver  with  the  cold  ; 
Within  the  tangled  thickets, 

Where  poison  vines  do  creep, 
And  over  rocky  ledges, 

Wander  the  poor  lost  sheep. 

O  who  will  go  to  find  them  ? 

Who,  for  the  Saviour's  sake, 
Will   search   with  tireless   patience 

Through  brier  and  through  brake? 
Unheeding  thirst  or  hunger, 

Who  still,  from  day  to  day, 
Will  seek  as  for  a  treasure. 

The  sheep  that  go  astray? 

Say,  will  yoii  seek  to  find  them? 

From  pleasant  bowers  of  ease. 
Will  you  go  forth  determined 

To  find  the  "least  of  these?" 
For  still  the  Saviour  calls  them. 

And  looks  across  the  wold, 
And  still  he  holds  wide  open 

The  door  into  his  fold. 


20  I/YMXS    AXD    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

How  sweet  'twould  be  at  evening, 

If  you  and  I  could  say, 
Good  Shepherd,  we  've  been  seeking 

The  sheep  that  went  astray. 
Heart-sore  and  faint  w'ith  hunger, 

We  heard  them  making  moan, 
And,  lo  !  we  come  at  nightfall 

Bearing  them  safely  home. 

The  author  and  the  hymn  referred  to,  "Your  ^lissioii,"  disclose  a  gen- 
eral fact  in  Association  history.     The  hymn  was  written  by  ^Irs.  Eliza- 
beth Ellen  (Huntington)  Gates,  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J.    She  wrote  it  on  her 
slate  one  snowy  afternoon  in   i860.     She  knew  then,  she  says,  as  she 
knew  afterward,  that  the  poem  was  only  a  simple  little  thing,  but  some- 
how she  had  a  presentiment  that  it  had  wings  and  would  fiy  into  sorrow- 
ful hearts,  uplifting  and  strengthening  them.     The  tune  was  written  by 
Philip  Phillips,  who   was  a   Sankey  before  Sankey.      He  was  what  he 
called    one    of    his    books,    the    "Singing    Pilgrim."    The    hymn    ap- 
peared and  reappeared  in  the  meetings  of  churches  and  associations,  as 
a  solo,  and  as  a  congregational  hymn.     Mrs.  Gates  is  the  author  of  the 
following   hymns,   which   Mr.    Sankey   has    popularized    m    his    "Sacred 
Songs  and  Solos"  and  by  his  own  singing  of  them: 

"Come  home,  come  home, 
You  are  weary  at  heart." 

"I  am  now  a  child  of  God," 

"I  will  sing  you  a  song  of  that  beautiful  land," 

"O.  the  clanging  bells  of  time," 

"Say,  is  your  lamp  burning,  my  brother?" 

In  1871-2,  Dr.  Tourjee  (1834-1891)  was  president  of  tlie  Association, 
The  Association  rooms  were  then  in  Tremont  Temple,  and  the  year  of  his 
presidency  w-as  the  last  year  in  wdiich  the  Association  occupied  that  his- 
toric building.  Removal  to  the  corner  of  Tremont  and  Eliot  Streets  oc- 
curred in  1873.  The  receipts  during  his  presidency  were  a  little  over  $14,- 
000,  a  large  sum  for  those  days.  The  Association  was  entering  upon  an 
era  cf  expansion  and  increased  prosperity,  but  Dr.  Tourjee's  activity  in 
behalf  of  Association  work  did  not  cease  with  his  retirement  from  the 
presidency.  Early  in  the  autumn  of  1876,  he  organized  a  grand  chorus 
which  led  the  singing  during  the  Moody  and  Sankey  services  in  the  Bos- 
ton Tabernacle  on  Tremont  Street,  which  began  Jan.  28th,  1877,  and  con- 
tinued luitil  April  2C)Xh.     The  evangelists  returned  for  sub.^equent  series 


H}'MXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  21 

of  meetings.  The  Tabernacle  was  erected  largely  through  the  efforts  Oi 
the  Boston  Association,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Tourjee's  successor 
in  the  presidency,  Russell  Sturgis,  Jr.,  who  broke  the  one  term  record  of 
the  presidency  and  held  the  office  from  1872  to  1877.  Dr.  Tourjee's  chorus 
was  composed  of  about  2,000  voices,  separated  into  five  or  six  sections. 
He  usually  conducted  the  singing,  sometimes  holding  a  praise-meeting, 
sometimes  rendering  the  grand  old  choruses,  always  holding  himself  in 
readiness  for  such  music  as  the  evangelists  might  call  for.  In  the  words 
of  Mr.  Hezekiah  Butterworth,  the  well-known  author  and  editor:  "Who 
can  ever  forget  the  singing  by  that  chorus,  of  the  thrilling  Gospel  song, 
To  the  work!  To  the  work'?" 

The  Association  in  1875-6  printed  Toplady's  hymn  "Rock  of  Ages"  as 
it  first  appeared  in  the  Gospel  ^lessenger  one  hundred  years  before;  the 
reason  for  so  doing  was  the  centennial  of  the  hymn.  From  these  copies 
it  was  printed  in  a  number  of  anniversary  programs.  The  Rev.  John  Ju- 
lian, the  first  living  authority  on  hymnology,  says  that  "no  other  English 
hymn  can  be  named  which  has  laid  so  broad  and  firm  a  grasp  upon  the 
English-speaking  world."  The  publication  of  it  by  the  Boston  Associa- 
tion marked  an  era  of  progress  in  Christian  union,  for  Toplady  and  John 
^^'esley  were  personal  controversialists,  using  epithets  freely.  Toplady's 
*'Rock  of  Ages"  was  directed  against  the  Wesleyan  doctrine  of  perfec- 
tion. But  it  has  become  a  unifying  hymn,  acceptable  in  the  main  to  all 
English-speaking  Christians. 

At  the  anniversary  of  the  Boston  Association,  3^Iay  22,  1878,  'Sir.  San- 
key  was  present  and  sang  a  hymn  that  had  been  written  a  few  years  pre- 
viously and  dedicated  to  him.     Its  first  line  was 

"O  what  are  you  going  to  do,  brother?" 

After  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  Association  and  the  coming 
to  Boston  of  ]\Ioody  and  Sankey,  the  hymnal  history  graduated  into  the 
use  of  the  "Gospel  Hymns,"  and  whether  this  has  been  the  title  of  the 
book  in  use  or  not,  it  describes  the  character  of  the  hvnms. 


DWIGHT  L.  MOODY. 
•A  good  judge  of  a  good  hymn. 


CHAPTER  II 

COXX'EXTIOX     HYMXS     AXD     SIXGERS 

The  first  convention  of  leaders  in  specific  work  for  young  men  that 
ever  assembled  in  an  English  speaking  country,  was  the  convention  of 
the  Associations  ot  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces  which  met 
in  Buffalo,  Wednesday  morning,  June  7.  1854.  At  the  evening  session 
the  delegates  sang  the  hymn  which  has  since  become  the  "convention 
hymn."     We  have  already  referred  to  its  origin,  the  hynm 

"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds." 

The  early  International  Conventions  are  those  whicli  preceded  the 
Civil  War  of  1865.  They  were  held  in  Cincinnati,  1855;  ^Montreal,  1856; 
Richmond,  1857:  Charleston,  1858;  Troy,  1859;  X'ew  Orleans,  i860.  One 
hymn  that  soon  obtained  currency  in  those  conventions  obtained  it  as  a 
farewell'hymn.  It  was  an  old  camp-meeting  melody.  It  was  not  born; 
it  grew.  It  scarcely  deserves  to  be  called  a  hymn,  yet  it  was  popular 
and  useful,  simply  as  an  appeal  to  the  emotions  when  conventions  were 
adjourning  and  brethren  were  separating,  never  to  meet  again  on  earth 
under  precisely  the  same  conditions.  In  each  stanza  the  first  line  was 
repeated  three  times.  The  first  stanza  was  a  cjuestion,  to  which  the 
second  was  responsive  and  there  was  a  variety  of  ways  in  which  the 
stanzas  were  alternated,  one  portion  of  the  audience,  possibly  a  soloist 
or  a  choir,  singing  the  first  stanza,  and  the  audience  responding.  In  re- 
duced form,  omitting  simiply  the  repetitions,  the  hvmn  was  as  follows: 

Say.  brothers,  will  yon  meet  us. 
On  Canaan's  happy  shore? 

By  the  grace  of  God  we'll  meet  yon. 
Where  parting  is  no  more. 

Jesus  lives  and  reigns  forever 
On  Canaan's  happy  shore. 

Glory,  glory,  hallelujah. 
For  ever,  evermore. 

The  veterans  of  the  early  Associations  and  Conventions  have  vivid  recol- 
lections of  the  effect  of  the  frequent  singing  of  it,  for  it  was  not  used  ex- 


26  HVMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  J/.  C.  A. 

chisively  as  a  farewell  hymn.  It  could  be  caught  up,  learned  and  sung 
in  an  instant,  and  was  very  useful  for  those  who  were  seeking  life,  vi- 
vacity, speed,  usefulness,  uplift,  in  services. 

Those  early  conventions  covered  the  period  known  as  the  Confedera- 
tion period  (1854-1859).  The  Troy  Convention  met  July  13th,  1859.  It 
was  exciting,  yet  spiritual.  At  a  critical  moment,  the  President  of  the 
Convention,  George  H.  Stuart,  of  Philadelphia,  said  to  H.  Thane  Miller: 
''Come,  Mr.  Miller,  sing-,  'Say,  brothers,  will  you  meet  us?'  "  They 
sang  it,  and  the  convention  dispersed  in  a  good-natured  and  serene 
frame  of  mind. 

Mr.  Miller  was  a  phenomenal  man  in  Association  history  and  his  sing- 
ing was  unique,  and  pathetic,  and  effective,  the  pathos  and  power  of  his 
voice  being  enhanced  by  the  sympathy  of  his  auditors  wath  his  blindness. 
Some  of  his  favorite  hymns  were:  "Jesus,  Saviour,  Pilot  me;"  "Waiting 
by  the  River;"  "The  Old,  Old  Story." 

Mr.  Cephas  Brainerd,  of  New  York,  who  for  twenty-five  years  w^as  the 
chairman  of  the  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  says:  "Those  of  you  who  have  seen  Thane — as  those  of  us 
who  loved  him  best  liked  to  call  him — those  of  you  who  have  heard  him, 
know  the  effect  of  Thane  Miller's  singing  on  a  whole  convention  under 
such  circumstances." 

The  President  of  the  Troy  Association,  Joseph  De  Golyer,  in  making 
his  report  at  the  end  of  the  year  1859,  wrote  as  follows: 

''Who  will  forget  the  final  adieu,  as  it  came  wafted  back  on  the  gentle 
breeze  from  the  departing  steamer,  mingled  with  the  soul-inspiring  song 
of  ^ 

"Say,  brothers,  will  you  meet  us?" 

and  the  response  as  it  went  back  from  a  hundred  hearts  and  voices: 

''By  the  grace  of  God,  we'll  meet  you." 

There  had  been  a  pioneer  and  elder  school  of  authors  of  popular 
hymns  and  composers  of  popular  tunes.  Oliver  Holden,  Lowell  Mason, 
Thomas  Hastings,  L  B.  Woodbury,  George  J.  Webb  and  Henry  K. 
Oliver  were  among  its  representatives.  The  immediate  contemporaries 
and  successors  of  this  school  of  hymnists  and  musicians  were  such  men 
as  Robert  LowTy,  William  B.  Bradbury,  William  F.  Sherwin,  Hubert 
P.  Main,  D.  E.  Jones,  Phili])  Phillips,  George  F.  Root,  WilHam  H. 
Doane,  S.  Dryden  Phelps,  H.  Thane  Miller  and  others.  They  wrote, 
and  played,  and  composed,  and  sang  for  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociations, but  not  for  them  alone.     Thev  aided  the  Sundav-schools,  the 


H.  THANE  MILLER, 
The    Blind    Singer. 


HYMNS    AND    SIXGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  2y 

conventions  uf  their  respective  denominations,  the  local  churches,  and 
kindred  assemblies.  There  were  two  singers  who  obtained  prominence 
in  the  conventions  of  the  Young  ]\Ien's  Christian  Association,  Dr. 
Doane  and  H.  Thane  ^Miller.  Both  represented  the  Cincinnati  xA^sso- 
ciation  and  both  attended  the  International  Conventions.  Mr.  Alil- 
ler  was  president  of  more  conventions  than  any  other  man  in  Asso- 
ciation history.  Dr.  Doane  united  with  the  Central  Baptist  Church  in 
Norwich,  Conn.,  in  1851;  the  same  year  in  which  the  Association  was 
organized  in  Xorth  America,  His  religious  life,  therefore,  and  the  life 
of  the  Association  were  exactly  parallel  as  long  as  he  lived.  He  had 
been  interested  in  music  from  boyhood,  and  when  ten  years  of  age  sang 
in  the  church  choir.  He  was  a  versatile  musician,  a  composer,  an  in- 
strumentalist on  varied  instruments,  a  singer,  etc.  He  began  musical 
composition  when  he  was  thirteen.  In  1854,  he  assisted  one  of  his  mu- 
sical instructors,  B.  F.  Baker,  in  a  musical  convention.  He  composed 
more  than  six  hundred  Sunday-school  songs,  about  150  church  and 
prayer-meeting  hymns,  and  250  other  songs  and  ballads. 

He  was  one  of  the  composers  whose  tunes  often  floated  into  popularity 
the  hymns  of  Fanny  Crosby. 

His  tune  for  "Rescue  the  Perishing,"  written  by  her,  is  a  good  ex- 
ample. It  was  composed  for  the  anniversary  meeting  of  the  Indianapolis 
Association  and  was  first  published  in  his  "Songs  of  Devotion,"'  1870.  It 
is  said  to  have  become  the  favorite  hymn  of  slum  workers  and  soldiers 
cf  the  Salvation  Army  in  all  Christian  lands. 

In  1885.  when  there  was  a  tremendous  outburst  of  indignation  in 
England  following  the  publication  entitled  "The  Maiden  Tribute,"  it 
was  the  hynm  that  vras  universally  sung  in  public  meetings  in  connection 
with  the  agitation:  an  agitation  which  was  due  to  a  new  consciousness 
on  the  part  of  the  public  that  young  girls  were  victims  of  vice  bv  the 
thousand. 

Dr.  Doane  wrote  the  music  to  "Tell  me  the  old,  old  story,"  under 
the  following  circumstances: — The  words  were  given  to  liim  in  1867,  ^^ 
^M-^ntreal,  by  Alajor-general  Russell,  then  the  commander  of  the 
Queen's  forces  in  Canada,  during  the  Fenian  excitement.  General  Rus- 
sell had  read  the  words  from  a  sheet  of  foolscap  paper  at  one  of  the  ses- 
sions of  the  International  Y.  AI.  C.  A.  Convention,  in  that  city.  Dr. 
Doane.  who  had  been  impressed  by  the  words  and  the  reading  of  them. 
went  from  :\Iontreal  to  the  White  Alountains,  and  on  the  stage-coach, 
on  a  hot  summer  afternoon  between  the  Glen  House  and  the  Crawford 
House,  wrote  the  music.  On  the  same  evening,  in  the  parlor 
of    the    Crawford     House,    the    sweet    hymn,    that    proved    to    be    so 


30  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OP    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

popular,  was  sung  by  a  few  who  gathered  around  the  piano  for 
a  "sing."  It  was  afterw-ard  pubhshed  in  Cincinnati,  in  sheet  form.  Dr. 
Doane  did  not  know  the  name  of  the  author  of  the  words.  The  hymn 
w^as  w^ritten  by  Miss  Katherine  Hankey,  an  EngUsh  lady,  who  in  1866 
published  "The  Old,  Old  Story;"  and  in  1879,  "The  Old,  Old  Story  and 
other  Verses;"  and  between  those  two  dates,  some  enlargements  and 
revisions  bearing  the  name  of  "Heart  to  Heart,"  1870.  The  poem  was 
long,  and  was  a  Life  of  Jesus  in  meter.  It  had  two  parts,  "The  Story 
Wanted,"  and  "The  Story  Told."  It  has  appeared  in  manifold  forms, 
and  been  translated  into  numerous  languages.  The  answering  hymn 
was : 

"I  love  to  tell  the  story." 

At  the  farewell  meeting  of  the  Montreal  Convention,  June,  1867,  Ma- 
jor-general Russell  repeated  the  hymn  wdiose  first  line  is, 

"Hark!  'tis  the  watchman's  cry." 

It  was  written  by  Horatius  Bonar.  It  had  been  sung  by  the  British  sol- 
diers at  Aldershot,  England.  It  is  a  hymn  based  on  Christ's  exhorta- 
tions to  prayer  and  watchfulness  during  his  bodily  absence  from  earth 
and  wdiile  expecting  his  coming  again.  It  expressed  the  premillennial 
views  of  its  author.  The  date  of  its  composition  is  unknown,  a  fact  that  is 
true  of  many  of  Dr.  Bonar's  hymns,  because  he  made  no  record  of  "times 
and  seasons"  in  the  composition  of  his  hymns  and  wdien  taxed  to  recall 
the  occasions  and  conditions  of  their  composition  was  unable  to  do  so. 
This  hymn  is  No.  493  in  the  "Annotations  upon  Popular  Hymns"  by 
Charles  Seymour  Robinson,  D.D.,  (New-  York,  Hunt  &  Eaton,  1893) 
and  No.  118  in  "The  Church  Hymnary"  (Henry  Frowde,  New^  York, 
1898). 

The  conventions  of  the  w^ar  period  were  the  convention  of  November 
14th,  1 86 1,  in  the  rooms  of  the  New  York  Association,  Bible  House, 
New  York,  where  the  Christian  Commission  was  formed  to  provide  for  the 
religious,  moral  and  mental  w^elfare  of  the  soldiers;  the  Chicago  Conven- 
tion of  1863;  the  Boston  Convention  of  1864,  and  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention of  1865.  ^^^  Christian  Commission  transferred,  as  we  shall 
note,  the  major  portion  of  the  Association  work  to  the  camp  and  the 
field.  The  other  conventions  of  the  period  sang,  in  part,  national,  pa- 
triotic hymns,  and  the  hymn-book  published  by  Secretary  Rowland  of 
the  Boston  Association  in  1865  contained  such  songs  as  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner,"  "God  Speed  the  Right,"  "The  Dear  Old  Flag,"  "The 
Stars   and   Stripes."   "The  Union   Forever,"   and   inevitably   "America." 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  31 

There  was  one  couplet  in  "The  Union  Forever,"  which  is  of  special 
significance.     It  was  as  follows: 

"We've  prayers  for  the  foemen,  that  yet  they  may  see 
Plow  bright  and  enduring  a  Union  may  be." 

The  war  not  only  divided  the  Union,  but  the  Associations,  and  there 
was  bitter  controversial  correspondence  between  the  Associations  in 
Richmond  and  in  New  York.  Surviving  soldiers  and  seamen  of  both 
armies  participated  in  the  Jubilee  Convention  in  1901,  rejoicing  in  a  re- 
united country  and  reunited  Associations. 

With  the  Albany  Convention  of  1866,  the  Associations  started  on  a 
new  career.  We  have  noted  hymnal  events  in  connection  with  the  Mon- 
treal Convention  of  1867.  The  welcome  hymn  for  the  Detroit  Conven- 
tion in  1868  was  written  by  D.  Bethrme  Duffield,  Esq.,  of  that  city.  It 
was  in  the  same  meter  as  "America."  It  was  a  missionary  hymn,  rather 
than  a  hymn  relative  to  young  men  and  to  Christian  work  for  them.  Its 
most  significant  stanza,  in  the  light  of  history,  was  the  fourth,  as  follows: 

"Loud  to  the  poor  proclaim 
That  One  prevailing  name, 

Jesus,  our  God. 
And  forth,  o'er  land  and  sea. 
With  his  Word  ever  free. 
Spread  Christian  liberty 

Widely  abroad." 

Apparently,  this  sentiment  was  reminiscent  of  the  war,  although  the 
foreign  missionary  sentiment  was  characteristic  of  the  six  stanzas. 

To  that  Detroit  Convention,  Judge  Young,  of  Prince  Edward's  Is- 
land, presented  a  large  card,  which  had  been  given  hinii  by  a  lady  of  the 
Island,  for  the  uses  of  the  convention.  It  bore  the  inscription:  "Christ 
for  all  the  w^orld,  and  all  the  world  for  Christ."  The  card  was  suspended 
in  a  conspicuous  place,  facing  the  audience.  Its  inscription  was  mis- 
sionary in  spirit.  It  procaimed  the  universal  Christ,  and  the  need  of 
universally  offering  and  accepting  him  and  his  gospel.  It  was  copied 
and  used  in  other  conventions,  large  and  sinall.  It  reappeared  in  ever- 
green letters,  in  the  State  Convention  of  Ohio,  at  Cleveland,  in  1869  and 
was  noticed  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wolcott,  D.D.,  (1813-1886),  the  super- 
intendent then  of  the  State  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society. 
It  suggested  a  hymn,  wdiich  he  is  said  to  have  composed  on  the  wav 
home  and  to  have  written  out  after  his  arrival  at  home.  Its  first  couplet 
is: 

"Christ  for  the  v.'orld  we  sing, 
The  world  to  Christ  we  bring." 


32  HYMXS    AXD    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

The  missionary  sentiment  of  the  inscription  impressed  Dr.  W'olcott, 
whcse  whole  hfe  was  associated  with  home  and  foreign  missions.  The 
hymn  has  been  adopted  by  numerous  compilers.  It  was  sung  at  the 
funeral  of  its  author  in  the  various  churches  he  had  served.  It  has 
been  adopted  by  Yankton  College,  South  Dakota,  as  the  hymn  with 
which  each  term  opens.  The  extemporization  of  the  hymn  may  seem 
strange,  but  it  is  a  fact.  It  was  in  the  previous  year,  1868,  when  Dr. 
Wolcott  was  56  years  old,  that  he  wrote  his  first  hymn,  and  thereafter 
he  composed  more  than  200  hymns,  most  of  which  have  never  been 
published.  Among  the  successful  hymns  that  Dr.  Wolcott  wrote  were 
the  following: 

"Goodly  were  thy  tents,  O  Israel." 

"O  gracious  Redeemer!  O  Jesus  our  Lord!" 

"Tell  me  whom  my  soul  doth  love." 

To  the  Portland  Convention  of  1869,  the  Rev.  Dr.  \\  yhe  of  Phila- 
delphia was  introduced  as  the  pastor  of  George  H.  Stuart,  who  had 
L>ecn  censured  for  singing  hymns  unauthorized  by  the  Synod.  The 
records  of  the  Portland  Convention  state  that  the  delegates  and  audience 
''rose  and  sang  to  the  good  old  tune  of  'China,'  " 

"Alas!  and  did  my  Saviour  bleed?" 

A  season  of  silent  prayer  followed. 

The  Portland  Convention  authorized  the  adoption  of  a  hymnal  which 
Dr.  W.  H.  Doane  was  known  to  be  preparing  as  an  Association  hymnal. 
It  w^as  published  in  1870  under  the  title  ''Songs  of  Devotion,"  It  con- 
tained hymns  for  men  and  Association  hymns,  but  none  of  those  which 
were  special  seem  to  have  come  into  common  use. 

It  was  at  the  Indianapolis  Convention,  1870.  that  D wight  L.  Moody 
first  met  Mr.  Sankey.  He  led  a  morning  prayer-meeting  at  6  o'clock 
There  was  some  difficulty  in  starting  the  singing  until  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Sankey,  who  had  come  with  him,  urged  him  to  begin  one.    He  started, 

''There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood." 

in  which  all  the  audience  joined.  At  the  close,  Mr.  Sankey  w-as  in- 
troduced to  Mr.  Moody  by  his  companion,  and  was  recognized  as  the 
leader  of  the  singing.  A  few^  inquiries  were  made  as  to  '\lv.  Sankev's 
family  and  as  to  his  occupation.     Then  Mr.  Moodv  said,  "\AV11,  vou'll 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A.  33 

have  to  give  it  up!  You  are  the  man  I  have  been  looking  for,  and  1 
want  you  to  come  to  Chicago  and  help  me  in  my  work."  Later  in  the 
day,  ^Ir.  Sankey  met  an  appointment  to  assist  Mr.  Moody  in  an  open- 
air  service.  Mr.  Moody  procured  an  empty  box  from  a  store  and  stand- 
ing upon  it,  asked  Mr.  Sankey  to  sing 

"Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross?" 

After  a  service  of  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  Mr.  Moody  announced 
another  meeting  at  the  Academy  of  Music.    The  crowd  sang 

"Shall  we  gather  at  the  river?" 

as  they  marched  down  the  street.  Some  months  later,  ]\Ir.  Sankey 
visited  Chicago  for  a  week  and  decided  to  join  Mr.  Moody. 

Mr.  Aloody  went  to  Great  Britain  in  1872.  It  was  his  thought  to  leave 
Mr.  Sankey  in  Chicago  to  carry  on  work  in  the  mission  church  and  in 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association;  but  he  decided  that  the  British 
call  was  a  call  to  Mr.  Sankey  as  well  as  to  himself,  for  a  few  months  at 
least. 

At  Newcastle-on-Tyne  the  demand  for  a  hymn-book  was  due  to  the 
want  of  adaptation  of  the  hymns  and  tunes  in  use  in  the  British  churches 
and  chapels  for  evangelistic  services,  and  to  a  lack  of  familiarity  on  the 
part  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  with  the  books  in  use.  For  their 
meetings,  therefore,  they  adopted  Philip  Phillips'  book,  entitled  "Hal- 
lowed Songs,"  which  contained  American  hymns  and  a  modest  number 
of  English  tunes.  Mr,  Sankey  used  some  hymns  which  he  had  been 
singing  in  Chicago  and  which  were  not  in  the  book  by  ]\Ir.  Phillips. 
These  became  popular  and  requests  were  made  for  their  publication. 
Mr.  Sankey  wrote  to  the  publishers  of  "Hallowed  Songs"  ofifering  to 
supply  a  dozen  more  that  he  was  singing,  if  they  would  print  them 
in  the  back  part  of  their  own  book.  This  offer  was  twice  refused,  and 
Mr.  Moody  determined  to  publish  them  on  his  own  responsibility. 
Messrs.  Morgan  and  Scott  were  engaged  to  issue  a  pamphlet  of  sixteen 
pages,  the  cost  of  which  was  guaranteed  by  Mr.  ]\Ioody.  The  little  col- 
lection was  known  as  "Sacred  Songs  and  Solos."  There  v.as  a  great  de- 
mand for  it  at  twelve  cents  per  copy.  For  the  time  being  it  was  used  as 
a  solo  book  in  connection  with  the  "Hallowed  Songs."  New  songs  were 
gradually  added,  and,  after  the  lapse  of  several  months,  the  words  onlv 
were  published  and  sold  for  two  cents  per  copy,  when  the  use  of  "Hal- 
lowed Songs"  was  discontinued.  "Sacred  Songs  and  Solos"  was  ad- 
vertised in  "The  Christian,"  a  British  paper,  on  September  18,  1873,  and 


34  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  AL  C.  A. 

the  advertisement  increased  the  demand.  The  pubHshers  copyrighted 
the  book.  When  Mr.  Moody  went  to  London  in  tlie  same  year,  he 
placed  the  disposition  of  the  royahies  in  tiie  hands  of  a  committee  of 
which  Mr.  Hngli  M.  Matheson  was  cliairman.  in  a  short  time  the 
royalties  amonnted  to  $35,000.  The  conmiittee  were  offered  this 
amount,  but  refused  to  use  it  for  public  purposes,  stating  that  they  did 
not  propose  that  Mr.  Moody  should  pay  this  large  sum  for  the  privilege 
of  preaching  in  London.  It  was  donated  to  Mr.  Moody's  church  in 
Chrcago,  which,  owing  to  the  panic  of  1873-4,  had  been  only  partially  re- 
built, and  the  Chicago  Avenue  Church,  which  for  nearly  thirty  years 
has  been  phenomenal  in  activity  and  usefulness,  was  completed  and 
dedicated  free  of  debt. 

During  the  absence  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  in  Great  Britain, 
Mr.  P.  P.  Bliss  (1838- 1876)  the  musical  associate  in  evangelistic  work 
of  Major  D.  W.  Whittle,  brought  out  a  small  volume  of  hynnis  and 
tunes  under  the  title  of  ''Gospel  Songs"  of  which  Mr.  BUss  was  the  chief 
author.  When  Mr.  Moody  returned  to  this  country  in  1875,  these 
books  were  united  and  their  titles  combined  so  that  it  read,  "Gospel 
Hymns  and  Sacred  Songs."  The  evangelistic  meetings  of  Moody  and 
Sankey  made  an  immense  demand  for  it.  Messrs.  Bliss,  Sankey,  James 
McGranahan  and  George  C.  Stebbins  were  constantly  adding  new 
hymns  and  tunes  as  Mr.  Moody's  work  went  on,  and  special  editions  of 
''Gospel  Hymns" — a  shortened  title — were  numbered  until  six  had  been 
issued. 

The  royalties  were  given  into  the  hands  of  a  committee  of  business 
men,  George  H.  Stuart  of  Philadelphia,  John  V.  Farw^ell  of  Chicago, 
and  William  E.  Dodge  of  New  York,  who  was  chairman.  They  were 
appropriated  for  religious,  philanthropic  and  educational  objects  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  United  States.  Three  halls  at  Northfield  and  Mount 
Hermon  were  erected  out  of  these  funds,  East  Hall,  Stone  Hall  and 
Recitation  Hall.  The  royalties  at  the  present  time  are  paid  to  the 
trustees  of  Mr.  Moody's  schools  at  Northfield  and  Mount  Hermon. 

Mr.  Bliss  joined  with  Moody  and  Sankey  in  the  self-sacrifice  which 
surrendered  copyrights  and  refused  to  receive  royalties.  By  September, 
1885,  the  royalties  amounted  to  $357,388.  In  speaking  of  the  self-sacrifice, 
Mr.  Dodge  has  said,  'T  never  knew  anything  like  it."  Yet  it  was  misrepre- 
sented, and  the  evangelist  and  singers  were  slandered  in  Great  Britain 
and  in  this  country.  The  lawyer  to  wdiom  legal  questions  were  referred 
was  so  impressed  with  the  self-sacrifice  that  he  refused  to  take  any  fee, 
when  a  large  one  might  legitimately  have  been  demanded. 

Mr.  George  C.  Ste1)l)ins  in  1871   occasionally  assisted  i\Ir.  Moody  in 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE     Y.  M.  C.  A.  35 

noon  meetings  in  Chicago,  and  in  1876  came  directly  in  touch  with  him. 
He  entered  upon  evangeHstic  work  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Moody,  and  his 
first  undertaking  was  the  organizing  and  drihing  of  a  choir  of  eight  hun- 
dred singers  for  Mr.  Moody's  Tabernacle  w-ork  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  McGranahan  became  associated  in  similar 
work  with  Major  Whittle,  but  also  assisted  Mr.  Moody  frequently  in 
conventions  and  in  his  schools.  Mr.  McGranahan  says,  "I  soon  learned 
to  prize  his  judgment  as  to  the  value  and  usefulness  of  a  hymn  for  our 
work." 

"Gospel  Songs"  belong,  confessedly,  not  to  the  realm  of  artistic,  but 
of  popular  music.  They  have  been  depreciated  because  simple  and  pop- 
ular; the  assumption  being  that  they  have  but  little  value  because  they 
do  not  enter  into  the  permanent  literature  of  hymnology.  The  Rev. 
Wm.  G.  Horder,  a  British  hymnologist  of  the  first  rank  as  historian, 
compiler  and  critic,  says  that  the  great  success  of  "Sacred  Songs  and 
Solos"  by  Ira  D.  Sankey  has  arisen  chiefly  from  the  bright,  lively  tunes, 
and  the  catching,  easy  choruses  by  which  the  "Sacred  Songs"  are  accom- 
panied, and  that  the  new  hymns  included  are  exceedingly  dull,  that  in 
many  cases  the  words  seem  to  have  been  written  for  the  music  and  are 
destitute  of  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  worthy  hymn;  that  the  same  music 
might  have  given  currency  to  hymns  of  a  far  higher  and  more  helpful 
type.  But  the  music  has  been  criticized  quite  as  much  as  the  poetry.  Mr. 
Sankey  has  said  that  he  finds  it  much  more  diiihcult  to  get  good  w^ords  than 
good  music.  It  is  the  law  of  natural  selection — the  survival  of  the  fittest — 
which  admits  any  hymn,  or  set  of  hymns,  into  the  permanent  literature 
of  hymnology.  When  hymns  are  admitted  into  the  collections  of  the 
higher  order  as  to  literary  quality,  some  of  them  become  obsolescent  or 
obsolete.  They  are  then  excluded,  so  that  the  general  process  is  a 
double  one,  of  failure  to  be  admitted  or  rejection  after  transient  or  pro- 
tracted use.  In  either  case,  a  hymn  may  have  great  usefulness — and 
usefulness  is  the  supreme  and  final  test  rather  than  literary  or  artistic 
quality.  Some  of  the  finest  h}^mns  from  the  literary  standpoint  exhaust 
their  usefulness  in  arousing  the  emotional  nature  and  never  occasion  a 
radical  revolution  in  individual  life;  but  the  glory  of  these  discredited 
''Gospel  Hymns"  is  that  they  touch  the  human  heart,  and  that  they 
have  been  providentially  used  for  the  conversion  of  men,  according  to  the 
strict  etymology  of  the  word,  and  the  evangelistic  view  of  conversion  in 
theology. 

The  Rev.  Lyman  Abbott,  D.D.,  whose  literary  merits  will  hardly  be 

discredited,  in  the  introduction  to  his  Plymouth  Collection  (1894)  says: 

"Musically  the  development  of  the  churches  has  taken  two  directions. 


36  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A. 

— one  toward  a  broader,  the  other  toward  a  higher,  musical  culture. 
Through  the  leadership  of  such  men  as  ]\lr.  Sankey  and  2^1r.  Stebbins, 
and  through  their  musical  compositions  and  those  of  some  of  their 
contemporaries  of  the  same  musical  school,  music  has  become  an  ex- 
pression of  the  spiritual  life  for  thousands  who  before  were  without  a 
voice  in  public  worship,  and,  as  suppressed  feeling  easily  dies,  were  often 
withoiit'any  share  in  public  worship.  I  desire  to  put  on  record  my  pro- 
found sense  of  the  obligation  of  the  Christian  Church  to  those  whose 
musical  service  has  been  rendered  through  what  are  known  as  'The 
Gospel  Songs.' " 

Likewise,  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead,  in  publishing  in  1897  a  collection  of  hymns 
which  have  been  found  most  useful,  says  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  over- 
estimate the  extent  to  which  the  religious  life  of  the  English-speaking 
world  has  been  quickened  and  gladdened  by  the  songs  and  solos  of 
Mr.  Sankey.  And,  before  Mr.  Sankey's  advent,  he  says,  "The  American 
Sacred  Songs  of  Mr.  Phillips  did  much  to  enliven  the  British  service  of 
song."  To-day,  says  Mr.  Stead,  the  American  hymns  and  spiritual  songs 
are  more  popular  among  the  masses  in  Great  Britain  than  any  others. 
When  mass  meetings  are  held,  or  a  revival  is  in  progress,  in  the  majority 
of  cases  the  American  hymns  are  used  as  a  matter  of  course.  It  is  not 
impossible  to  trace  the  influence  of  the  inspiring  strains  of  these  Ameri- 
can sacred  songs  even  in  the  High  Anglican  services. 

The  point  to  be  emphasized,  and  which  has  been  chronologically  and 
historically  noted,  is  that  the  union  between  Moody  and  Sankey  origi- 
nated in  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  convention;  that  in  all  their  antecedents  both 
men  were  Association  men,  and  remained  so  in  all  their  subsequent 
history.  Mr.  Moody  held  innumerable  meetings  under  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
auspices.  Many  of  the  results  of  his  work,  and  many  of  the  anecdotes 
which  illustrate  the  power  of  Mr.  Sankey's  singing,  had  their  origin  in 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  meetings. 

The  general  effectiveness  of  the  hymns  can  be  illustrated.  A 
working  man  sent  to  Mr.  Stead  an  expression  of  tlie  hope  that 
whatever  else  might  be  left  out  of  the  hymn-books,  No.  28  in  ^Ir.  San- 
key's  hymn  book  might  not  be  the  one.  The  reference  was  to  the  hymn 
beginning, 

"I  left  it  all  with  Jesns  long  ago." 

The  working  man  described  his  experience  thus  : — 

'T  thought  I  had  done  my  best,  but  still  that  was  unsatisfactory. 
Something  always  seemed  to  be  kept  back ;  something  that  ought  to 
have  come  out  and  did  not,  or  rather,  perha])s  I  should  say,  that  was 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  37 

not  fully  understood  by  the  one  to  whom  it  was  told.  I  had  no  doubt 
of  my  wish  to  repent,  no  doubt  of  my  willingness  to  make  every  repara- 
tion in  my  power,  but  still  peace  would  not  come.  At  last  I  took  it  all 
straight  to  Jesus,  and  the  burden  rolled  away  from  my  heart.  That  is 
why  I  love  No.  28  of  Mr.  Sankey's  collection  of  'Sacred  Songs  and 
Solos/  " 

This  history  is  successive  and  climactic.  The  hymnal  history  in  con- 
ventions is  analogous  to  that  of  the  Boston  Association.  It  was  natural 
that  the  Associations  should  yearn  for  a  new  style  of  hymns  and  music. 
They  accepted  the  style  in  vogue,  so  far  as  it  was  suitable  for  their  uses. 
They  generated  another  mode,  of  the  same  general  type,  and  more  ef- 
fective in  practice,  because  evangelism  needed  it,  and  demanded  it. 
There  has  been  a  growing  feeling  that  is  reactionary  toward  a  more 
general  use  of  the  ''Church  Hymns,"  and  progressive  toward  a  larger 
infusion  of  hymns  of  literary  merit,  and  tunes  of  a  more  sober  style. 
But  "Gospel  Hymns"  have  dominated  Associations,  locally  and  in  con- 
ventions, since  the  advent  of  Moody  and  Sankey.  ''Church  Hymns  and 
Gospel  Songs."  is  a  union  of  titles,  a  combination  between  the  old  and 
new  styles  of  hymns  and  tunes,  constituting  an  equalitv  of  rank  and  a 
compromise  between  differing  opinions. 


CHAPTER  IIJ 

OCCASIONAL    HYMNS 

Three  hymns  have  been  written  in  connection  with  Y.  M.  C.  A.  serv- 
ices of  so  noteworthy  a  character  and  history  that  they  deserve  to  l)e 
emphasized.     The  first  of  these  is 

"Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus." 

It  was  written  by  the  Rev.  George  Duftield  (1813-1888)  who  was  pastor 
in  Philadelphia  during  the  very  years  that  covered  the  first  decade,  prac- 
tically, of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  history,  1852-1861.  The  hymn  was  based  on  the  dy- 
ing message  of  the  Rev.  Dudley  A.  Tyng  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  and  to  the  ministers  associated  w^ith  the  young  men  in  the 
noonday  prayer-meeting  in  Philadelphia  during  the  revival  of  1858. 
Mr.  Tyng  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Stephen  Tyng  of  New  York,  and  the 
Tyng  family  might  almost  be  called  an  Association  family,  for  Dr.  Tyng 
the  father  was  identified  with  the  early  history  of  the  Association  in 
New  York  and  another  son  was  one  of  the  early  members  and  workers 
of  the  Association  in  San  Francisco.  On  the  Sabbath  before  his 
death  Dudley  Tyng  preached  a  sermon  in  Jaynes'  Hall,  Philadelphia, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  effective  sermons  of  modern  times.  It  was 
preached  to  an  audience  of  five  thousand  and  it  is  believed  to  have  oc- 
casioned the  conversion  of  one  thousand,  or  one-fifth  of  the  audience. 
Its  text  was  Exodus  10:11  :  ''Go  now  ye  that  are  men,  and  serve  the 
Lord ;  for  that  ye  did  desire."  On  the  following  Wednesday,  Mr.  Tyng 
was  killed  by  a  mule  which  was  at  work  on  a  horse-power,  shelling  corn. 
His  dying  message  as  already  stated  was  ''Stand  up  for  Jesus."  On  the 
following  Sunday,  the  Rev.  George  Duffield,  Jr.,  D.D.  preached  from 
Eph.  6:14,  "Stand,  therefore,  having  your  loins  girt  about  with  truth, 
and  having  on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness." 

After  the  manner  of  many  of  the  early  English  hymnists.  Dr.  Duffield 
concluded  his  sermon  with  some  verses  written  as  his  final  exhortation. 
He  gave  the  manuscript  to  the  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school,  who 
printed  the  hymn  for  the  children.  A  stray  copy  found  its  way  into  a 
Baptist   newspaper,  a  fact  that   recalls  the  publication  cf  the  letter  of 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A  39 

Rev.  George  M.  Van  Derlip  in  the  "Watchman  and  Reflector"  of  Boston, 
Oct.  30,  1 85 1,  a  letter  that  occasioned  the  organization  of  the  Boston 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  first  in  the  United  States,  and  therefore  occasioned 
the  whole  Association  movement  in  this  country.  The  hymn  was 
speedily  translated  into  German  and  Latin.  It  was  never  altered 
by  the  author  in  a  single  verse,  line  or  word,  and  it  was  his  wish  that  it 
should  remain  unaltered  until  the  ''soldiers  of  the  Cross"  should  replace 
it  by  something  better.  The  iirst  time  the  author  heard  it  outside  of  his 
own  denominational  services  was  in  1864,  as  the  favorite  hymn  of  the 
Christian  soldiers  in  the  army  of  the  James.  The  first  copy  ever  made 
for  the  press  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Duffield,  son  of  the 
author,  who  became  an  eminent  authority  on  English  hymns.  A 
cob  of  corn  from  the  threshing  floor  where  Dudley  Tyng  was  injured 
hung  on  the  study  wall  of  the  author  of  the  hymn  as  long  as  he  lived. 
The  hymn,  consisting  of  six  eight-line  stanzas,  first  appeared  in  "The 
Psalmist"  and  afterward  in  ''Lyra  Sacra  Americana"  (1868.)  The  first 
regular  use  of  the  hymn  in  a  hymnal  was  in  the  supplement  of  Dr.  Be- 
man's  "Church  Psalmist"  prepared  by  the  New  School  Presbyterian 
Publication  Committee,  Philadelphia,  1859.  The  hymn  was  repeatedly 
ccmmended  by  Professors  Phelps  and  Park,  of  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  in  "Hymns  and  Choirs,"  a  book  issued  by  them  in  i860  as  ex- 
planatory of  some  subjects  in  hymnology,  and  in  their  "New  Sabbath 
Hymn  and  Tune  Book."  They  mated  it  to  the  tune  "Tyng."  The  Rev. 
Charles  S.  Robinson,  D.D.,  the  associate  in  hymnal  matters  of  the  son  of 
the  author  of  the  hymn,  joined  it  in  1862  to  the  tune  "Yarmouth."  Wm. 
B.  Bradbury  in  his  "Golden  Chain"  adopted  the  tune  "Webb,"  named 
after  its  composer,  George  J.  Webb.  "Webb"  is  the  tune  to  which  it  or- 
dinarily has  been  sung. 

The  hymn  has  been  translated  into  many  languages  other  than  the 
German  and  Latin  into  which  it  was  at  first  transferred.  There  is  a 
version  in  Chinese  prepared  by  the  Rev.  W.  J.  McKee  of  Ning-po,  China, 
and  there  is  another  in  Welsh  by  J.  D.  Evans,  and  another  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Congo  people,  in  Africa.  The  phrase  in  the  third  verse, 
"Ye  that  are  men  now  serve  Him,"  is  usually  quoted  in  print,  because  it 
is  a  part  of  the  text  on  which  the  hymn  was  based.  Dr.  Duffield  on 
three  different  occasions  entered  a  church  and  found  the  congregation 
singing  his  hymn,  once  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  session  in  Brooklyn,  once  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  once  at  a  mass  meeting  of 
Sabbath-schools  in  Illinois.  On  each  occasion  he  was  vexed  by  out- 
ward and  inward  trouble,  and  he  said  that  the  feelino-  of  comfort  was  in- 


40  HVMNS    AND    SIXGERS    OF    THE    V.  \L  C.  A. 

expressible,  to  have  his  own  hymn  thns  sung-  to  him  by  tliose  who  were 
unaware  of  liis  presence.     It  was  as  though  an  angel  strengthened  him. 

On  one  occasion  the  little  four  year  old  child  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Roberts 
of  Princeton  while  sojourning  in  Saratoga  heard  the  hymn  given  out  in 
church,  and  sang  it  fearlessly,  unconscious  of  the  admiration  bestowed 
by  those  of  the  congregation  who  w^ere  seated  near  her.  Her  singing 
was  loud  and  joyous  and  made  melody  unto  the  Lord  and  unto  the 
people. 

The  hymn  has  been  called  a  "Soldier  Song,"  precisely  the  kind  de- 
sired by  young  men  and  by  the  Young  Alen's  Christian  Association. 
There  are  few  such  hymns  in  any  hymnal.  The  son  of  the  author  of 
"Stand  up  for  Jesus"  enumerates  the  following  list: 

"I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  my  Lord." 
"Onward,   Christian  soldiers." 
"My  soul,  be  on  thy  guard." 
"Brightly  gleams  our  banner." 
''Stand  up,  my  soul,  shake  off  thy  fears." 
"We  march,  we  march  to  victory." 
"Brethren,  while  we  sojourn  here." 

These  hymns  were  given  together  in  "Laudes  Domini"  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  S.  Robinson,  D.D.,  1884,  for  the  first  time  in  hymnology.  ]\Ir. 
Duffield  said  that  they  come  from  every  place  and  all  denominations  of 
Christians  and  that  they  are  among  the  most  popular,  useful  and  valued 
lyrics  of  the  Church.  Our  times,  he  said,  preeminently  call  for  this  style 
of  composition.  In  the  Latin  hymnology  there  was  only  one  such  hymn 
"Pugnate  Christi  milites"  (Fight  on,  ye  Christian  soldiers).  Such 
militant  hymns  stand  in  marked  contrast  with  those  which  express 
a  longing  for  death. 

"Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus"  is  one  of  the  most  commonly  used 
and  wddely  circulated  hynms  in  the  English  language,  its  circulation 
ranking  after  the  circulation  of  "My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee"  by  Ray 

Palmer,  D.D.,  and  "The  Morning  Light  is  Breaking,"  by  the  Rev.  S.  F. 
Smith,  the  author  of  "America." 

Another  Association  hymn  originated  m  Philadelphia,  of  which 
another   Presbyterian  pastor  was  the   author,   the   Rev.   Daniel   March, 

D.D.,    (i8t6-         )    now   a    retired    Congregational    pastor   in    W^oburn, 

Massachusetts.     (See  Nutter's  "Hymn  Studies"  1884.) 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 


41 


In   1868,    while    Dr.    March   was    pastor   of  the   North   Broad   Street 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  he  heard  Philip  Phillips  sing:,  "Your  Mission." 

On  the  following  Sunday,  October 
1 8th,  he  was  to  have  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  Young  ]\Ien's  Christian 
Association  in  his  own  church  and  to 
preach  the  sermon  himself.  His  text 
was  Isaiah  6:  8,  "PTere  am  I,  send 
me."  He  thought  that  he  would  like 
to  have  "Your  Mission"  sung,  but  on 
looking  it  up  found  some  lines  that 
did  not  please  him.  So,  on  Saturday, 
in  great  haste  he  sat  down  and  wrote 
the  hymn,  "Here  am  I;  send  me," 
as  it  is  often  called,  gave  it  to  his 
soprano  on  a  sheet  of  foolscap,  and 
she  sang  it  from  manuscript.  It  was 
liked  and  the  people  had  it  printed  on 
a  card,  and  thus  it  found  its  way  into 
common  use.     Its  first  couplet  is: 


REV.  DANIEL  MARCH,  D.D. 
Author  of  Anniversary  Hymn. 


"Hark!    the    voice    of    Jesus    calling 
Who  will  go  and  work  to-day?" 


It  was  first  published  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Hymnal,  1878. 

In  "Praise  Songs"  compiled  by  Arthur  H.  Dadmun,  of  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
in  1898,  the  tune  "Birtchnell"  is  assigned  to  the  hymn  and  is  named 
after  the  composer,  Frank  Birtchnell.  The  atithor's  name  is  given  as 
David  March,  and  the  hymn  is  assigned  to  1878,  instead  of  1868. 

"Your  Mission"  is  a  hymn  wdiich  has  occasioned  several  hymns  in  the 
same  stanza  and  of  similar  sentiments.  One  was  written  by  J.  W. 
Evans  and  is  Xo.  637  in  "Songs  of  Devotion,"  by  W.  H.  Doane.  The 
poetry  is  w^orthy  of  its  origin  and  author,  and  the  hymn  and  tune  have 
not  lost  their  usefulness,  although  they  seem  to  be  obsolescent.  The 
following  are  the  last  two  stanzas  of  the  hymn  of  Mr.  Evans: — 


"If  upon  the  towering  mountain 

Thou  can'st  find  no  place  to  toil. 
Seek  it  in  the  lowly  valley 

Where  the  dews,  enrich  the  soil ; 
If  thou  canst  not  with  the  reapers 

Gather  in  the  bearded  sheaves. 
Go  and  glean  where  they  have  trodden 

Golden  grain  among  the  leaves. 


42  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A. 

On  the  shores  of  sounding  ocean, 

By  the  river's  roHing  tide, 
On  the  banks  of  flowing  streamlet, 

Scatter  truth  on  every  side. 
Where  earth's  noxious  weeds  are  growing, 

Thou  can'st  plant  some  seed  of  love, 
Whose  eternal  bloom  shall  greet  thee, 

In  the  far  off  realms  above." 

The  Rev.  A.  J.  Gordon,  D.D.  (1836-1895),  pastor  of  the  Clarendon 
Street  Baptist  church  in  Boston,  was  identified  in  fact  and  in  spirit  with 
the  Boston  Association  and  with  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 
In  1886,  at  the  School  for  Bible  Study  organized  by  Dwight  L.  ]^loody 
in  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  where  the  Student  \'olunteer  ^^lovement 
for  foreign  missions  originated,  Dr.  Gordon  wrote  a  hymn  for  the  four 
students  who  were  chosen  to  visit  the  colleges  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  and  endeavor  to  awaken  a  deeper  interest  in  foreign  missions 
during  the  next  academic  year.    The  hymn  was  as  follows : 

WHOM  SHALL  T  SEND? 
Lsaiah  6:  8. 

O  Spirit's  anointing, 
For    service   appointing, 

On    us    descend ; 
For  millions  are  dying. 
And  Jesus  is  crying, 

"Whom   shall   I   send!^" 

Ethiopia  reaching 

Scarred  hands  is  beseeching, 

"Rend,    Christians,   rend 
The  chains  long  enthralling!" 
And  Jesus  is  calling, 

"Whom   shall   I   send?" 

Lo !  China  unsealing 
Her  gates,  and  revealing 

Fields   without   end  ! 
Her  night  is  receding, 
And  Jesus  is  pleading, 

"Whom  shall  I  send?" 

Dark  India  is  breaking 

Her  caste  chains,   and   making 

Strong  cries  ascend 
To  Jesus,  once  bleeding. 
But  now  interceding. 

"Whom  shall   I   scnd^" 


REV.  A,  J.  GORDON,  D.D., 

Author  of  Student  Volunteer  Hvmn. 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OP    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  45 

See  Japan  awaking, 
Old  errors  forsaking; 

Haste,  your  aid  lend  ! 
"More  light !"  hear  her  crying. 
And  Jesus  replying, 

"Whom  shall   I  send?" 

While   Israel's   unveiling, 
And  penitent  wailing, 

All   things  portend. 
Why,  why  our  delaying? 
Since  Jesus  is  saying 

"Whom  shall  I  send?" 

The  islands,  once  hating 
His  yoke,  are  now  waiting 

Humbly  to  bend. 
"To  bear  help  and  healing," 
Hear  Jesus  appealing, 

"Whom  shall  I  send?" 

Such  occasional  Hymns  as  are  here  mentioned  have  nor  been  numer- 
ous, but  they  have  had  a  history  peculiar  to  themselves  and  they  have 
been  identified  with  men  and  movements  that  have  been  historic  in  As- 
sociation affairs.  Dr.  Gordon  was  fond  of  hymns,  composed  and  com- 
piled them,  made  them  a  vital  part  of  his  own  spiritual  life  and  sought 
to  induce  others  to  do  likewise. 


CHAPTER    IV 
THE     HYMNS     OF     THE     SOLDIERS 

It  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  religious  history  of  the  Unitea 
States,  or  the  history  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  during 
the  latter  part  of  its  first  decade,  without  connecting  the  revivals  of 
1857-8,  which  were  prayer-meeting  revivals,  with  the  condition  of  the 
country  when  the  war  of  186 1-5  broke  out.  They  were  related  to  each 
other  as  preparation  is  related  to  productiveness,  as  providence  is  re- 
lated to  seed-time  and  harvest.  Prayer  and  praise  were  the  means  of 
grace  specially  honored  by  God  and  man,  by  Christians  and  churches, 
in  the  revivals  of  the  closing  years  of  the  decade  which  preceded  the  war 
and  which  were  coextensive  with  the  great  cities  of  the  country.  There 
was  a  religious  preparation  of  the  people  for  the  fiery  trials  through 
which  the  North  and  the  South  were  to  pass.  When  war  was  declared 
in  April,  1861,  the  religious  forces  of  the  country  asserted  themselves 
at  once.  War  was  declared  in  the  spring,  and  in  the  fall  (November  14th) 
the  Christian  Commission  was  organized  in  the  rooms  of  the  New  York 
Association,  by  a  Convention  which  had  been  called  by  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  Associations,  then  located  in  Philadelphia.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  the  7th  Regiment  of  New  York  contained  many 
members  of  the  Xew  York  Association;  likewise  the  12th  and  71st 
Regiments.  Chaplain  Francis  E.  Butler,  of  the  25th  Regiment,  was 
one  of  the  original  incorporators  of  the  New  York  Association  and  had 
held  office  in  several  of  its  Boards. 

The  situation  was  similar  as  related  to  the  Boston  Association  and  to 
other  Associations  in  the  ^Middle  West.  It  was  natural  that  such  sol- 
diers, who  had  passed  through  the  revivals  of  1857-8,  should  want  hymn- 
books  and  that  Associations  under  such  conditions  should  provide 
them.  Chaplains  and  delegates  of  the  Christian  Commission  were  re- 
gardful of  the  needs  of  soldiers  and  of  their  own  members  who  had 
enlisted,  by  providing  hymn-books.  The  committee  of  the  Chicago  Asso- 
ciation on  devotional  meetings,  before  the  early  summer  of  1861,  began 
religious  meetings  in  Camp  Douglas  and  published  a  soldiers'  hymn- 
book  to  facilitate  their  work.  The  New  York  Association  published  a 
''Soldiers'  Hymn-Book"  of  vest-pocket  size,  containing  seventy-seven 
hymns  and  songs,  of  which  sixty-one  were  devotional  and  the  remain- 


HVMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.  C.  A.  47 

cler  were  temperance  and  patriotic  hymns.  It  attained  speedy  and  great 
popularity.  In  rapidly  succeeding  editions,  it  reached  a  circulation  of 
over  100,000  copies.  Seventy  thousand  copies  were  published  and  cir- 
culated by  the  Army  Committee  of  the  Xew  York  Association  and  the 
remainder  were  furnished  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
of  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn  and  Chicago,  and  to  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union,  for  distribution  in  their  respective  spheres  of  labor. 
Those  Associations  supplied  the  funds  for  the  several  editions  used  by 
them.  The  Boston  Association  cooperated.  The  hymn-book  was  used 
in  the  barracks  and  in  camp,  in  the  hospital  and  on  the  march.  The 
motto  on  the  front  cover  included  a  familiar  quotation  from  one  of 
Faber's  hymns: 

'Tor  right  is  right,  since  God  is  God, 

And  right  the  day  must  win ; 
To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 

To  falter  would  be  sin." 

From  Xew  York,  packages  of  hymn-books  and  other  reading  matter 
were  forwarded  almost  daily  to  \\'ashington,  Alexandria,  Fortress  ]\Ion- 
roe,  Cairo,  III.,  Camp  Holt,  Ky.,  and  other  points  where  regiments  were 
forming  or  temporarily  located.  On  May  14th,  1861,  X'oble  Heath,  Jr., 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  X'ew  York  Association  wrote  that  "in 
every  (Northern)  Assembly  the  good  old  Union  hymns  are  (were)  sung 
amid  tears  and  cheers  of  generous,  godly  people."  Among  the  earliest 
Christian  workers  for  the  soldiers  was  the  Rev.  B.  W.  Chidlaw,  who 
during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1861  was  chaplain  of  the  39th 
Ohio  Regiment  and  afterward  was  intimately  connected  vrith  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Christian  Commission  and  of  its  Cincinnati  Branch.  He 
wrote  an  account  of  the  early  history  of  his  work  in  which  he  said: 
''We  needed  hymn-books,  and  in  response  to  my  application  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  Xew  York  sent  me  several  thousand 
copies  of  'The  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Hymn-book.'  just  what  we  needed 
and  what  the  soldiers  always  gladly  received  and  carefully  preserved." 

By  May  loth,  1863,  the  circulation  of  the  Army  Hymn-book 
amounted  to  150,000  copies.  Some  were  sold,  but  most  of  them  were 
given  to  the  soldiers.  In  the  month  of  September,  1863,  the  distribu- 
tion of  hymn-books  in  the  \Vashington  hospitals  amounted  to  6,900. 

In  tracing  the  religious  history  of  the  w^ar  and  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Commission,  it  is  not  easy  to  discriminate  uniformly  between 
the  work  of  chaplains  appointed  by  the  government,  state  or  national, 
and  the  volunteer  or  paid  workers  of  the  Commission.  But,  obviously, 
the  hymnal  history  of  the  Association  is  properly  included  in  whatever 


48  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

happened  that  related  to  the  uses  of  hymns,  after  the  Commission  was 
organized.  One  of  the  early  leaders  in  this  department  was  \'incent 
Collyer,  an  Association  leader,  who  as  early  as  July  23d,  1861,  went 
through  the  wards  of  a  hospital  in  Washington,  opened  a  large  package 
of  tracts,  and  allowed  each  soldier  lying  on  the  cots  to  select  for  him- 
self. A  number  of  the  wounded  who  were  seated  on  the  verandah, 
noticing  what  was  happening  within,  sent  in  several  of  their  number  to 
make  a  selection  for  them.  Mr.  Collyer  took  the  package  out  on  the 
verandah  and  the  majority  selected  hymn-books.  Soon  they  were  all 
singing  Cowper's  familiar  hymn  : 

"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood. 
Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins." 

The  Rev.  George  Bringhurst  wrote  to  President  George  TI.  Stuart 
from  Yorktown,  in  1862,  that  after  a  prayer-meeting,  in  the  month  of 
July,  as  he  was  returning  to  his  quarters,  his  attention  was  arrested  by 
footsteps  behind  him.  Turning,  he  met  the  gaze  of  a  young  soldier, 
belonging  to  a  regiment  called  the  "Lost  Children,"  "O  sir,"  said  he, 
'Svon't  you  please  tell  me  how  I  can  be  a  Christian?  I  was  at  prayer- 
meeting  to-night,  and  felt  as  though  I  could  talk  with  you."  "WTiat 
made  you  think  of  being  a  Christian?"  asked  the  clergyman."  "WTiy, 
sir,  when  I  was  on  guard,  I  was  thinking  of  a  beautiful  hymn  I  had  read 
in  my  Soldier's  Hymn-book,  beginning:  'Rock  of  Ages,  Cleft  for  ]Me,' 
and  I  wondered  if  I  could  not  be  built  upon  that  Rock.'  "  "Certainly, 
you  can,"  was  the  reply.  "Shall  we  pray  together?"  Then  on  the  dusty 
road-side,  beneath  the  stars,  a  prayer  went  up  to  God  which  sent  the 
weary  soldier-boy  to  his  duties  with  a  light  and  happy  heart.  After- 
ward, the  clergyman  fell  in  with  him  and  found  him  resting  on  the 
Rock. 

The  Rev.  S.  Hopkins  Emery,  of  Quincy,  Illinois,  wrote  under  date 
of  November  nth,  1863,  that  "prayer,  or  some  sweet  hymn  of  praise,  is 
oftentimes  better  than  medicine." 

In  1863,  the  Rev.  Edward  P.  Smith,  a  delegate  of  the  Christian  Com- 
mission, was  selected  from  the  corps  of  delegates  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  and  sent  as  a  field  agent  to  the  West,  with  instructions,  in 
part,  to  open  a  systematic  line  of  Christian  work.  Mr.  Smith,  who  had 
been  a  delegate  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  since  January  26th,  1863, 
continued  in  the  service  of  the  Christian  Connuission  until  its  dissolu- 
tion. He  asked  General  Grant,  then  commander  of  the  Departments  of 
the  Mississippi,  for  five  privileges.  General  Grant  issued  an  order 
covering  the  points  made  and  Mr.  Smith  said  that  he  came  back  to  his 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  49 

quarters  with  his  heart  full  of  the  first  line  of  the  "Doxology  in  Long 
Meter."  ]\Iany  thousands  of  Testaments,  hymn-books  and  religious 
papers  were  distributed  throughout  each  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac. At  Falmouth  Village,  Va.,  in  1863,  the  station  agent  organized 
a  Sabbath-school  for  the  children,  w^hich  came  to  be  held  every  day  in 
the  week.  Thirty  or  forty  "little  rebels"  were  gathered  in,  who,  for 
two  years  of  w^ant  and  war,  had  heard  nothing  of  school  or  church. 
They  soon  learned  to  recite  hymns  from  the  Soldiers'  Hymn-book  and 
chapters  from  the  Testament. 

A  little  girl  in  Philadelphia,  aged  seven  years,  under  date  of  April 
17th,  1863,  addressed  a  letter,  signed  Lizzie  S.,  to  "Some  Sick  Soldier." 
It  was  sent  with  a  Testament,  to  a  hospital  in  Xashville,  Tenn.  It  con- 
tained this  inquiry:     "Do  you  know  the  hymn. 

There  is  a  happy  land?'  " 

It  was  given  by  a  delegate  of  the  Commission  to  a  soldier  in  the  con- 
valescent ward  of  Hospital  Xo.  8.  He  was  the  first  soldier  who  rose 
for  prayers  in  the  first  meeting  there  after  the  letter  and  Testament  ar- 
rived in  X^ashville.  He  replied  and  said:  "Yes,  'there  is  a  happy  land.' 
Alay  we  meet  in  that  happy  land."  He  was  of  the  Fourth  Alichigau 
Cavalry. 

The  great  year  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Commission  was  the 
year  1864.  By  ]\Iarch  15th,  it  had  built  one  hundred  and  forty 
chapels  throughout  the  army.  The  Rev.  H.  A.  Reid,  cJiaplain  of  the 
Fifth  Regiment  of  AMsconsin  A'olunteers,  wrote  to  the  president  of  the 
Commission,  George  H.  Stuart,  a  leader  of  the  early  Association  move- 
ment in  Philadelphia  and  in  its  national  expansion,  giving  him  an  ac- 
count of  the  dedication  of  the  chapel  of  his  regiment,  near  Brandy 
Station,  N2..  The  letter  was  dated  February  22d,  1864.  Air.  Reid  en- 
closed an  original  hymn,  written  for  that  dedication  service.  It  consisted 
of  six  four-line  stanzas,  in  long  meter.  It  was  in  sentiment  an  ascrip- 
tion of  praise  to  God,  a  prayer  for  his  favor,  a  dedication  of  the  chapel, 
a  plea  for  victory  in  the  war.     We  quote  the  last  two  stanzas: 

*'0  grant  our  righteous  cause  success.. 

That  still  our  nightly  couch  may  be 
A  day's  march  nearer  conquered  peace, 

A  day's  march  nearer  conquered  peace, 

"And  as  Thou  giv'st  us  strength  to  do. 

And  hearts  to  dare,  through  gain  or  loss, 
]\Iay  we  be  freedom's  soldiers  true. 

Nor  less  true  soldiers  of  the  cross." 


50  Hl'MNS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    V.  J/.  C.  A. 

There  was  no  more  touching  scene  in  the  war  than  was  presented  one 
morning  in  the  Army  ot  the  Cumberland,  among  the  mule  wagons 
which  were  used  to  transport  the  wounded  from  the  general  Held  hos- 
pital, two  miles  from  the  Tennessee  river,  to  the  town  of  Bridgeport, 
ihe  road  lay  over  Waldon's  Ridge,  over  precipices  so  steep  and  rocky 
that  the  wagons  were  often  let  down  by  ropes  from  one  rock  to  another, 
amid  the  groans  and  shrieks  of  tortured  men.  When  the  train  was  wait- 
ing tlie  order  to  move,  K.  A.  Burnell,  a  delegate  from  Illinois,  standing 
on  a  driver's  seat,  proposed  a  prayer-meeting.  "Yes,  yes,  give  us  a 
pra}er-meeting,"  came  from  a  hundred  voices.     The  hymn 

"When  I  can  read  my  title  clear," 

a  few  words  of  the  Saviour's  love  and  cheer,  a  prayer  for  the  sufferers, 
some  of  whom  were  to  die  on  their  way  and  for  their  comrades  remain- 
ing, many  of  whom  were  to  die  for  w-ant  of  such  transportation,  and  for 
their  country  and  their  friends  far  aw^ay,  the  benediction  and  the  fervent 
responding  "Amen,"  were  all  the  services  of  that  wagon  prayer-meet- 
ing,— to  not  a  few  of  the  worshipers  their  last  earthly  scene  of  song  and 
prayer. 

There  was  a  revival  at  Ringgold,  Tenn.,  where  William  Reynolds, 
"Chairman"  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Peoria,  Illi- 
nois, was  the  delegate  who  invited  candidates  for  baptism  to  meet  at 
the  church  on  Sabbath  afternoon,  April  loth,  1864.  Forty-four  pre- 
sented themselves.  Twenty-four  chose  immersion  as  the  mode  of  bap- 
tism, eighteen  sprinkling,  and  two  pouring.  The  congregation  marched 
in  solemn  procession  to  Cowper's  hymn  and  tune 

"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood" 

down  to  the  Chickamauga  creek.  The  soldiers  stood  on  the  banks,  join- 
ing hands  and  continuing  the  hymn,  while  their  comrades  went  down 
into  the  water, — some  for  immersion,  some  for  sprinkling,  and  others 
for  pouring,  but  all  for  baptism  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  After  administering  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism, the  congregation  returned  to  the  church,  singing  the  Rev.  Henry 
Francis  Lyte's  hymn, 

"Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken," 

and  then  sat  down,  about  four  hundred  in  number,  at  the  table  of  their 
common  Lord  and  Saviour.     Commissary  bread,  currant  wine,  tin  plates 


HVMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A.  51 

and  tin  cups  were  the  circumstances  of  the  Communion.  It  was  said 
to  have  been  the  first  Communion  that  many  of  the  soldiers  had  en- 
joyed for  two  years  and  to  many  of  them  the  last,  until  they  entered  into 
the  heavenl}-  kingdom. 

Kingston,  Georgia,  became  the  base  hospital  for  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  during  the  fights  at  Pumpkinvine  Creek,  Dallas  and  Xew 
Hope  Church.  An  Indiana  soldier,  in  the  hospital,  who  was  dying,  sent 
for  an  agent  in  the  night,  because  there  was  no  available  delegate.  He 
was  a  fair-faced  boy  of  eighteen  years.  He  asked  the  agent  to  take  his 
last  words  home  to  his  mother  and  sister.  He  handed  over  his  memo- 
randum and  pocketbook  and  a  number  of  keepsakes.  He  asked  the 
agent  to  pull  the  two  rings  from  his  hand  and  send  to  his  sister,  and  to 
tell  her  that  they  were  taken  off  after  his  hand  was  getting  cold.  After 
prayer  the  ever-recurring  hymn  of  Cowper  was  simg: 

"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood." 

He  joined  in,  breaking  the  tune  now  and  then  with  "Yes,  yes,  if  he  could 
trust  Him,  I  can."  "Yes,  u'hcn  I  die."  "That  t^'z//  be  sweeter."  "Power 
to  save;  power  to  save;  I  used  to  sing  that  hymn  at  tiome,  but  it  was 
never  so  good  as  this — power  to  save." 

That  midnight  scene,  wrote  the  agent  who  participated  in  it,  cannot 
be  described: — the  patients  in  the  ward  that  could  walk,  gathering 
round;  others  in  their  beds,  rising  up  on  elbow,  the  nurses  standing 
about,  one  of  them  holding,  at  the  head  of  the  cot,  the  single  candle  of 
the  ward,  the  prayer,  the  hymn,  the  last  message,  the  good-bye,  the 
family  leave-takings,  and  the  consecration  unto  death  on  the  altar  of 
country. 

William  Hambline,  Campany  D,  Fifth  Maine  Regiment,  was  suffer- 
ing from  the  amputation  of  a  leg.  The  Rev.  F.  P.  ^lonfort,  delegate  of 
the  Commission  from  Greensburg,  Indiana,  ministered  to  him.  Fie 
evinced  childlike  simplicity  and  sincerity.  The  clergyman  said  to  him: 
"Here's  just  what  you  need.  Can  you  not  make  it  your  own,  while 
you  express  it  before  God? 

A  gfuilty.  weak,  and  helpless  worm. 

On  thy  kind  arms  I  fall ; 
Be   Thou  my  strength,   my  righteousness. 
]\Iy  Saviour  and  my  all  I'  *' 

Every  feature  of  the  dying  soldier's  countenance  indicated  the  encour- 
agement derived  from  a  new  thought.  He  responded:  "Won't  you 
please  say  that  again?"     The  stanza  was  repeated,  and  the  dying  soldier 


02  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

repeated  it,  a  line,  or  part  of  a  line  at  a  time,  until  he  came  to  the  clos- 
ing line:  "My  Saviour  and  my  All,*'  which  was  uttered  with  an  emphasis 
warm  from  the  heart,  and  then  a  sweet  smile,  as  from  a  sense  of  accept- 
ance by  God  rose  to  his  face  and  settled  there.  The  delegate  commended 
him  to  God  and  left  his  bedside,  assured  that  a  new-born  soul  was  soon 
to  be  received  into  glory. 

Isaac  Baker,  of  Philadelphia,  was  in  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  in  May, 
1864,  to  minister  to  those  who  had  suffered  in  the  Wilderness  battles. 
He  was  in  the  Fifth  Corps  hospital.  Second  Division.  On  the  first  morn- 
ing there,  the  patients  sang:  "Rest  for  the  Weary''  and  one  man  whose 
whole  thigh  had  been  shattered  by  a  shell,  lay  perfectly  calm  and  even 
happy.  He  smiled  when  the  delegate  came  to  his  couch  and  said:  ''Oh, 
that  hymn  cheered  me !  I  forgot  my  pains  while  I  listened  to  it,  and  I 
know  it  cheered  many  of  the  boys."    The  first  couplet  of  the  hymn  is: 

"In   the   Christian's   home  in   glory 
There  remains  a  land  of  rest." 

^Irs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  of  Iowa,  was  sanitary  agent  for  that  state, 
in  the  early  years  of  the  war.  She  distributed  among  the  Iowa  trooj^s 
in  the  \\'estern  armies  the  supplies  furnished  by  the  people,  under  the 
direction  of  the  state  government.  She  introduced  a  system  of  diet 
kitchens  into  General  Hospitals.  She  wrote  a  book,  "Under  the  Guns," 
which  gave  thrilling  experiences  of  the  war.  She  became  president  of 
the  Woman's  Relief  Corps.  She  was  the  first  president  of  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  served  for  five  years.  She 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  Our  Union,  the  first  ofihcial  organ,  which  was 
afterwards  consolidated  with  The  Signal  and  became  The  Union  Signal, 
the  organ  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  Her  Christian  hymns  have  been  sung 
around  the  world  and  the  best  known  is  : 

'T   have  entered  the  valley  of  blessing  so   sweet." 

In  January,  1901,  ]\Ir.  Frank  Damrosch  of  Xew  York  an- 
nounced that  the  Choral  Union  of  which  he  is  the  condtictor  would 
sing  Lincoln's  favorite  hymn  at  the  Lincoln  birthday  celebration,  which 
was  to  be  held  at  Carnegie  Hall  on  the  evening  of  February  nth,  if  he 
could  ascertain  what  that  favorite  was.  After  he  made  his  announce- 
ment he  received  a  letter  from  a  person  in  Pennsylvania  mentioning  the 
name  of  Lincoln's  alleged  favorite  hynm  and  giving  data  to  prove  it. 
Thereafter  letters  poured  in  on  hini  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  each 
giving  a  new  hymn,  with  one  or  two  exceptions.     ^Ir.  Damrosch  then 


HVJIXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    V.  3/.  C.  A.  53 

wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  John  Hay.  of  Washington,  who.  as  Mr. 
Lincoln's  private  secretary,  might  be  expected  to  have  particular  knowl- 
edge on  the  subject.  Secretary  Hay  replied  that  he  was  unable  to  tell 
with  any  certainty  what  was  ]\Ir.  Lincoln's  favorite  hymn,  but  that  there 
was  one  which  President  Lincoln  particularly  liked,  beginning: 

"Father,  whate'er  of  earthh-  bliss 
Thy  sovereign  will  denies." 

Air.  Damrosch  decided  to  select  this  hymn  for  rendition  by  the  Choral 
Union.  The  difficulty  seems  to  have  been  that  the  request  was  for  a 
single  hymn.  Any  lover  of  hymns.  Air.  Lincoln  not  excepted,  has  favorite 
hymns.  He  may  be  undecided  as  to  which  is  the  best  among  several  or 
many  that  appeal  to  him.  It  has  long  been  understood  that  one  of  Air. 
Lincoln's  favorite  hymns  was  entitled  "Your  Alission,"  the  origin  of 
which  has  been  stated.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  of  Air.  Lincoln  as  liking 
it,  when  sung  by  such  a  singer  as  Air.  Phillips  (see  Duffield's  English 
Hymns,  p.  257).  He  loved  hymns,  and  found  in  them  the  same  inspira- 
tion and  solace  that  come  to  innumerable  believers  among  the  plain 
people  that  he  represented  and  revered. 

At  the  public  anniversary  of  the  Christian  Commission  on  a  Sabbath 
evening  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  Washington, 
January  29th,  1865.  Chaplain,  now  Bishop  C.  C.  AlcCabe.  sang  Julia 
Ward  Howe's  "Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic."  and  Philip  Phillips  sang 
"Your  Alission."  The  historian  of  the  Christian  Commission,  and  its 
home  secretary.  Rev.  Lemuel  AIoss,  who  dedicated  his  "Annals"  in 
1868  to  the  Young  Alen's  Christian  Association,  wrote  that  "Both 
songs  thrilled  the  audience  and  were  accompanied  with  manifestations 
of  extraordinary  emotion, —  the  first  stirring  every  heart  like  the  blast 
of  a  trumpet  and  the  second,  by  its  tenderness  and  pathos,  suffusing  all 
eyes  with  tears.  It  was  noticed  that  President  Lincoln  arose  with  the 
throng  and  joined  heartily  in  the  chorus  of  the  'Battle  Hymn'  and  that 
while  Air.  Phillips  was  singing  he  shared  fully  in  the  emotions  of  all 
around  him."  The  anniversary  was  repeated  in  Philadelphia  on  Tues- 
day evening,  January  31st.  Chaplain  AlcCabe  and  Philip  Phillips  re- 
peated the  singing  of  the  same  hymns. 

February  nth.  1866,  the  Christian  Commission  held  its  final  meeting 
at  Washington,  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  where  its 
annual  meetings  had  been  held  in  1863,  1864  and  1865.  The  singing 
at  the  meetings  in  1865,  when  Lincoln  was  present,  had  been  so  im- 
pressive as  to  be  well  remembered;  and  at  the  meeting  in  1866.  after  the 
death   of   Lincoln,    it  was   publicly   recalled.     Charles  Demond,   of  the 


54  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Boston  Association,  delivered  an  address  as  one  of  the  original  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Commission  and  of  its  executive  committee,  as  the 
member  who  drew  the  resolutions  which  w^ere  adopted  in  the  Convention 
that  formed  the  Commission,  and  who  aided  in  its  management  through- 
out its  history.  He  told  how  President  Lincoln  had  been  moved  to 
tears  by  the  touching  melody  of  "Your  Mission,"  and  had  asked  for  its 
repetition.  *'He  has  been  a  true  disciple,"  said  Mr.  Demond,  and  "is 
now,  we  doubt  not,  joining  heart  and  voice  in  the  song,  more  sweet, 
more  loud,  the  'Song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb.' "  Speaker  Schuyler  Col- 
fax, who  presided,  before  introducing  Mr.  Philip  Phillips  to  sing  ''Your 
Mission,"  as  an  anniversary  hymn  of  the  Commission  and  a  favorite  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's,  gave  his  own  account  of  similar  services  one  year  pre- 
viously. He  said:  "Abraham  Lincoln,  with  his  tall  form,  his  care- 
furrowed  face  and  his  nobly  throbbing  heart,  was  here,  and  after  listening 
in  tears,  he  sent  up,  written  upon  the  back  of  this  program  (holding  up 
the  precious  sheet),  in  that  plain,  familiar  handwriting,  by  that  hand 
that  now  lies  cold  in  the  grave,  this  request: — 

"Near  the  close  let  us  have  'Your  Mission'  repeated  by  Mr.  Phillips. 
Don't  say  I  called  for  it.  Lincoln." 

It  was  then  sung  once  more.  We  are  accustomed  to  designate  Lin- 
coln as  "Honest  Abe  Lincoln."  Just  as  appropriately,  it  will  be  seen, 
he  might  be  called  "Modest  Abe  Lincoln." 

The  Rev.  Herrick  Johnson,  then  of  Pittsburg,  Penn.,  now  professor 
of  Homiletics  in  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  and  a  Doc- 
tor of  Divinity,  had  been  in  the  Commission's  work.  He  was  one  of  the 
speakers  of  the  last  anniversary.  He  said:  "Go  with  me  for  a  moment 
and  look  upon  one  of  the  hospital  scenes.  There  lies  a  young  soldier 
wounded  unto  death.  'What  can  I  do  for  you,  my  brave  fellow?'  'Speak 
to  me  of  Jesus.'  "  The  words  that  suggested  themselves  to  Mr.  John- 
son were  those  of  Charles  Wesley's  famous  hymn 

"Jesus,    lover  of   my   soul. 
Let  me  to  thy  bosom  fly." 

The  young  soldier  asked  that  the  hynm  might  be  sung,  and  another 
wounded  soldier,  lying  near,  started  the  hynm.  The  dying  drummer- 
boy,  for  such  he  was,  repeated  the  address  to  Jesus  and  the  prayer,  and 
even  while  the  words  were  on  his  lips,  the  prayer  was  answered  and  his 
soul  was  away  on  its  flight  to  the  bosom  of  Jesus. 

After  the   address  of  the  Rev.   Herrick  Johnson,  a  stirring  patriotic 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.   C.  A.         55 

hymn  from  the  "Musical  Leaves,"  entitled  "We  are  rising  as  a  people," 
was  sung  by  PhiHp  Phillips,  the  audience  joining  in  full  chorus. 

Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,  in  his  address,  quoted  a  hymn  which,  lie 
said,  he  was  taught  in  his  youth  to  repeat : 

"Angels  now  are  hovering  round  us, 

Unperceived  they  mix  the  throng. 
Wondering  at  the  love  that  crowned  us, 
Glad  to  join  the  holy  song." 

The  records  state  that  "a  new  and  sweet  song"  entitled  the  "Home  of 
the  Soul,"  written  by  Mrs.  Ellen  Huntington  Gates,  author  of  "Your 
Mission,"  was  sung  by  Philip  Phillips. 

The  Hutchinson  family  sang  two  songs,  embodying  the  sentiment: 
'T  will  live  for  the  good  I  can  do,"  and  forecasting  the  "good  time"  to  be 
ushered  in  by  the  recognition  of  universal  freedom  and  the  brotherhood 
of  man. 

In  'The  Summary"  of  the  Annals  of  the  Christian  Commission  is  the 
following  statement:  "These  hymn-books — the  companions  of  the 
Testaments,  how  often  have  they  lightened  the  march  and  the  camp, 
and  brought  the  home  altar  nearer  the  soldier's  heart." 

As  a  rule  the  soldiers  necessarily  sang  familiar  hymns,  such  as  they 
had  learned  at  home  and  in  the  Sabbath-school,  and  in  church  and 
Sabbath  services.  The  simple  sentiments  of  piety,  the  encouragements 
to  bravery,  obedience,  hopefulness,  patience  under  trial,  the  expecta- 
tions of  immortality,  expressed  in  hymns,  were  the  sentiments  appro- 
Driate  to  their  experiences.  That  soldier  was  to  be  pitied  who  had  never 
learned  the  child's  prayer,  altered  from  Watts,  and  beginning : 

"Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep." 

It  has  been  a  child's  evening  prayer,  wherever  the  English  language 
has  been  spoken,  for  nearly  two  centuries.  John  Qumcy  Adams  re- 
peated it  nightly  throughout  life.  It  is  so  brief  as  not  to  require  much 
time  for  its  devout  offering,  and  many  a  soldier  had  neither  the  disposi- 
tion nor  the  audacity  to  lie  down  at  night  without  prayer.  No  formu- 
lated prayer  was  ever  written  better  adapted  to  retirement.  There  will 
be  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  before  children  and  adults  will  cease  to  re- 
peat it,  before  mothers  will  be  willing  to  yield  the  teaching  of  it  to  their 
children. 

Pilgrim  hymns  were  sung,  the  hymns  of  joy,  of  hope,  of  faith,  at  one 
extreme;  and  the  hymns  of  sorrow  and  victory  over  death,  at  the  other. 
We  refer  to  such  hymns  as  "Joyfully,  joyfully  onward  I  move."  "I'm  a 


56  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  AL   C.  A. 

pilgrim  and  I'm  a  stranger,"  "I'm  but  a  stranger  here,"  "My  days  are 
gliding  swiftly  by,"  "There  is  a  happy  land." 

Hymns  of  trust  in  God  for  a  blessing  upon  distant  kindred  and  friends, 
of  prayer  for  health  and  continued  life,  for  ability  to  die  willingly  for 
God  and  country,  for  home  and  native  land,  for  the  cause  at  heart,  and  a 
race  of  slaves,  were  common.  In  this  connection  hymns  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  for  sinners  were  appropriate. 

One  delegate  wrote  to  a  friend  as  follows:  "The  one  hundred  hymn- 
books  you  sent  will  be  very  useful.  There  is  one  hymn  in  the  book  that 
I  can  never  forget,  if  I  live  a  thousand  years.    It  b?^'"^''!^: 

'One   sweetly    solemn   thought.' 

I  had  held  several  prayer-meetings  by  the  bedside  of  a  dying  soldier. 
This  hymn  was  his  favorite  and  he  always  wanted  it  sung.  He  used  to 
sing  it  to  the  sweet  tune  of  'Dennis.'  One  evening,  in  the  course  of  the 
evening,  I  asked  him  what  hymn  we  should  sing.  He  answered:  'My 
hymn.'  We  knew  very  well  what  that  was  and  sung  it  as  far  as  the  con- 
clusion of  the  third  verse  and  there  we  had  to  stop: 

"Nearer   to   leave   the   heavy   cross ; 
Nearer  to  gain  the  crown.'  " 

He  went  to  wear  the  starry  crown  just  as  he  was  singing  those  ver)- 
words.  The  hymn  thus  signalized  was  Phoebe  Carey's  familiar,  beauti- 
ful and  consoling  hymn. 

"Call  Jehovah  thy  Salvation,"  was  written  by  James  Montgomery 
(1771-1854).  It  appeared  in  his  Songs  of  Zion,  1822,  entitled,  ''God's 
Merciful  Guardianship  of  his  People."  It  was  a  favorite  with  the  sol- 
diers. It  was  printed  upon  a  leaflet  for  distribution  in  large  meetings 
held  in  the  army. 

Another  well  known  hynm  by  Montgomery  is: 

''People  of  the  living  God. 

I  have  sought  the  world  around." 

It  was  written  on  the  occasion  of  his  being  publicly  recognized  as  a 
member  of  the  Moravian  Society  at  the  close  of  1814.  It  was  included 
in  Cotterill's  Selection,  1819.  with  the  title  "Choosing  the  Portion  of 
God's  Heritage."  It  is  annotated  by  the  following  anecdote:  A 
young  soldier,  when  in  barracks,  knelt  down  to  pray  before  going  to 
bed:  his  fifteen  comi:(anions  began  to  jeer,  some  even  going  so  far  as  to 


HVMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    Y.   M.   C.  A.         57 

throw  various  articles  at  him.  Undeterred  by  this  treatment,  he  con- 
tinned  to  kneel  night  after  night,  and  soon  he  was  surprised  to  find  his 
companions,  one  after  the  other,  steal  to  his  side  and  kneel  with  him. 
By  his  faithful  confession  of  Jesus,  that  soldier  won  all  his  companions 
to  the  Lord. 

Dying  hymns  were  the  old,  familiar,  standard  hymns,  such  as:  "Xearer 
my  God  to  thee,''  "J^^^^^,  lover  of  my  soul,"  'Xly  faith  looks  up  to  thee." 
"Rock  of  Ages  cleft  for  me,"  "J^st  as  I  am  without  one  plea." 

Some  of  the  war  songs  and  ballads  contain  reminiscences  that  revive 
unpleasant  sentiments  and  facts  that  we  would  gladly  forget.  George 
F.  Root,  the  composer  of  many  of  them,  said  that  after  the  war  ceased, 
the  singing  of  those  songs  ceased,  as  if  the  songs  themselves  had  been 
shot.  But  the  hymns  of  war  and  peace,  of  Christ  and  the  Church,  of  the 
home  and  the  Sabbath-school,  of  the  battlefield  and  the  hospital,  may 
well  be  revived,  for  they  will  do  us  good.  It  is  almost  impossible  that 
they  should  do  us  any  harm.  They  are  not  divisive  but  unifying.  In 
the  last  analysis  they  are  the  hymns  of  eternal  life.  They  are  worthy 
expressions  of  the  love  of  man  to  God,  and  to  his  fellow  man.  They  are 
the  vehicles  of  praise  and  glory,  of  praise  to  our  Maker  and  Redeemer, 
and  of  that  glory  which  lies  beyond  death  and  the  grave  for  all  those  who 
commit  their  spirits  to  God  as  Christ  committed  His  own  spirit. 


ROBERT  R.  McBURXEY 
A  Hvmn-loving  Secretary. 


CHAPTER    V 
A    HYMN-LOVER— R.    R.     McBURXEY 

The  Xew  York  Y.  ^I.  C.  A.  was  organized  in  June,  1853.  Its  first 
decade  was  one  of  activity,  risks  and  dangers  of  division  over  slavery; 
of  revival  interest  that  developed  in  1857-8  by  the  establishment  of  the 
Fulton  Street  prayer-meeting  and  the  awakening  of  the  churches  of  the 
city,  in  common  with  those  of  the  country.  \Mien  Robert  R.  AIcBurney 
became  the  employed  executive  of  the  Association,  in  1862,  the  Asso- 
ciation acquired  a  hymn-lover.  He  was  a  ^Methodist  and  it  might  be 
taken  for  granted  that  at  least  he  loved  the  Wesleyan  h}mns.  But  he 
was  not  a  singer.  He  was  fond  of  congregational  singing  and  revealed 
early  and  late  in  his  life  his  love  of  hymns  and  his  disposition  to  use 
them  in  Christian  work,  in  Association  services.  He  became  a  collector 
of  hynmals.  He  was  accustomed  to  cjuote  hymns  in  addresses  and  re- 
ports, in  services  and  in  private  life.  He  was  always  on  the  lookout  for 
an  appropriate  hymn  for  special  occasions.  The  history  of  his  secretary- 
ship from   1862  to  1898  is  penetrated  with  the  hymnal  spirit. 

The  dedicatory  hymn  for  the  dedication,  December  2d,  1869,  o^  the 
building  of  the  Xew  York  Y.  ]\I.  C.  A.  was  written  by  A.  D.  F. 
Randolph,  the  well-known  publisher.  It  is  published  in  the  report  of 
the  X^'ew  York  Association  for  1870.  It  consisted  of  five  eight-line 
stanzas  and  is  adapted  to  the  tune  "Webb."  The  second  and  third 
stanzas  were  ascriptions  of  praise  to  Cod  for  his  power  as  shown  in  na- 
ture and  his  grace  in  dwelling  in  and  cooperating  with  men.  The  first. 
fourth  and  fifth  stanzas  were  invocations  of  God's  blessing  upon 
the  building  and  those  hymnal  prayers  have  been  abundantly  answered. 
Mr.  Randolph  wrote  a  hymn  in  1849,  which  is  in  a  few  collections.  Its 
first  line  was  : 

"Weary,  Lord,  of  struggling  liere." 

In  1873,  while  preparing  his  annual  report,  Mr.  McBurney  discovered 
in  a  hymnal  one  day  when  he  and  Secretary  Richard  C.  Morse  were 
working  over  the  report  for  that  year,  two  verses  of  a  hymn  which  de- 
lighted him.  Secretary  Morse  says  that  with  a  light  in  liis  countenance 
and  joy  in  his  voice,  he  exclaimed  :  "We  must  put  these  verses  at  the 
end  of  the  report  this  year."  Thev  were  so  placed.  They  expressed  the 
asniration  of  his  life  and  are  as  follows: 


{j'2         HWUXS    .IXD    SIXGERS    OF     THE    Y.  ^L   C.  A. 

"We  who  so  tenderly  were  sought, 

Shall  we  not  joyful  seekers  be. 
And  to  Thy  feet  divinely  brought. 

Help  weaker  souls,  O  Lord,  to  Thee '. 

"Celestial  Seeker,  send  us  forth! 

Almighty  Love,  teach  us  to  love ! 
When  shall  we  yearn  to  help  on  earth 
As  yearned  the  Holy  One  above?" 

In  1 87 1 -2,  Association  hall  was  nearly  filled  on  Sab1)atli  evening  and 
a  half  hour  was  spent  in  singing  hymns.  Four  pamphlets  of  sixteen 
Images  each,  containing  hymns  and  tunes,  were  printed  for  that  service. 
Many  of  the  hymns  and  tunes  were  written  especially  for  the  uses  of 
that  meeting,  and  the  selections  were  the  choicest  in  the  language  and 
had  special  reference  to  the  religious  impressions  sought  to  be  produced 
upon  the  young  men  who  attended  the  service. 

The  writer  is  greatly  nidebted  to  President  L.  L.  Doggett,  Ph.D.., 
president  of  the  Y.  AI.  C.  A.  Training  School  in  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, for  the  privilege  of  reading  in  manuscript  his  "Life  of  Secre- 
tary AIcBurney,"  soon  to  be  published,  in  which  a  hymnal  anecdote  is 
narrated,  which  relates  to  a  hymn  and  a  class  of  hymns  already  con- 
sidered in  Chapter  II,  viz,  "Convention  Hymns." 

The  twelfth  International  Convention  w-as  held  in  Montreal  in  1867. 
The  time  was  immediately  subsequent  to  the  Civil  War.  When  Major- 
general  W.  T.  Gregory,  of  Fredericksburg,  Va.,  reported  for  his  state, 
Mr.  E.  V.  C.  Eato,  president  of  the  colored  Association  of  New  York 
City,  responded.  He  was  asked  to  go  forward.  When  he  reached  the 
platform.  General  Gregory  stepped  forward  and  took  him  by  the  hand. 
The  Convention  appreciated  the  situation,  the  Southern  ex-Confederate 
and  the  Northern  colored  man,  fraternizing  on  neutral  ground,  and  af- 
ter the  war  w^as  over.  The  entire  audience  arose,  handkerchiefs  were 
waved  and  all  joined  in  singing: 

"Say.  brothers,  will  you  meet  us?" 

In  Dr.  Doggett's  "Life,"  the  reminiscences  of  George  A.  Warburton, 
secretary  of  the  Railroad  Associations  in  New  York,  are  included.  He 
says  that  Secretary  McBurney  in  his  thought  about  the  Bible  and  his 
love  of  hymns,  w^as  like  the  Methodists  that  he  knew  many  years  ago; 
that  his  mother  was  always  fond  of  quoting  Wesley's  hymns  and  that 
he  loved  to  hear  McBurney  quote  them.  It  was  one  bond  of  union  be- 
tween McBurnev  and  himself. 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y,  M.   C.  A.  b3 

In  his  will,  Secretan'  McBurney  provided  for  congregational  singing 
at  a  memorial  service  which,  he  knew,  had  been  planned  by  his  friends. 

In  American  Association  history,  Secretary  McBurney  ranks  with 
such  men  as  Charles  Demond,  Cephas  Brainerd,  William  E.  Dodge,  H. 
Thane  Miller,  John  Wanamaker,  George  H.  Stuart,  Richard  C.  Morse 
and  Dwight  L.  Moody,  all  of  whom  were  his  warm  friends  and  co- 
laborers.  He  is  the  model  secretary.  He  was  versatile,  and  as  a  model, 
deserves  to  be  imitated  in  hymnal  matters,  for  the  mere  announcement 
of  a  hymn  from  a  compilation  and  collection,  while  the  primary  and  legiti- 
mate use  of  a  hymnal,  does  not  meet  the  expectations  entertained  of  a 
trained  secretary,  any  more  than  it  does  of  a  trained  clergyman.  To  a 
good  degree.  Secretary  McBurney  was  a  specialist  in  hymnology,  but 
any  secretary  can  be  educated  in  it,  as  a  part  of  his  normal  training  and 
constant  w^ork.  Dwight  L.  Moody  was  not  a  hymnist  nor  a  com- 
piler, but  he  w'as  a  keen  student  of  the  numerous  and  possible  uses  of 
hymns,  a  good  judge  of  their  utility  and  power,  and  a  discriminating- 
evangelist  in  moving  individuals  and  an  audience  by  hymns  no  less 
than  by  personal  appeals  and  by  preaching.  Secretary  McBurney  w^as 
like  Mr.  Moody  in  these  particulars. 


CHAPTER    VI 

ASSOCIATION     HYMNISTS,     SINGERS     AND     COMPOSERS 

It  has  been  said  that  in  the  history  of  popular  hymnology  there  was 
an  elder  school  of  authors  and  composers.  There  was  a  later,  a  junior 
school.  There  is  a  third  generation  of  the  same  class  of  writers  and 
composers.  They  have  been  versatile  men,  most  of  them  poets,  singers, 
instrumentalists,  composers,  preachers  and  evangehsts.  Like  Philip 
Phillips,  they  have  been  Singing  Pilgrims.  Their  one  object  has  been 
to  win  sinners  to  Christ  as  the  only  Lord  and  Saviour.  Their  labors 
have  been  performed  in  the  Associations,  in  part;  becavise  these  organi- 
zations furnished  an  opportunity  for  uniting  all  the  denominations,  or 
most  of  them,  in  a  common  effort  for  the  conversion  of  young  men  and 
the  awakening  of  the  entire  community. 

The  senior  member  of  this  school  was  Philip  P.  Bliss  (1834- 1876).   Pie 
was  a  pupil  of  George  F.  Root  in  Chicago,  and  a  typical  man  of  the 
school  referred  to.     Pie  was  a  Western  man  and  most  of  the  members 
cf  this  school  were  from  the  Middle  States  or  from  the  Central  Western 
States.      Chicago   was   their  chief   city,   the  center   of   their   operations. 
They  were  associated  with   Dwight  L.  Moody,  directly  and  indirectly. 
It  was   hearing   Mr.    Bliss   sing  in   Farwell   Hall,    Chicago,    that    im- 
pressed Mr.  Moody  with  the  idea  of  engaging  a  gospel  singer  to  aid  him 
in  evangelistic  and  revival  work.     In  the  spring  of  1874,  Major  D.  W. 
Whittle  invited  Mr.  Bliss  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  evangelism  and  the 
invitation   was   accepted.      Some  of   his   hymns   have   been   sung  in   all 
English-speaking  countries   and  been   translated   into   foreign  tongues. 
FortA'-nine  of  them  are  annotated  in  Julian's  Dictionary  of  Hymnology, 
the  greatest  book  ever  written  on  its  theme.     The  Rev.  F.  ]\I.  Bird,  the 
first  American  authority  on  hymnology,  says  that  as  the  writer  of  hymns 
added  to  simple  melodies  Mr.  Bliss  is  second  only  to  Airs.  Van  Alstvne 
(Fanny  Crosby).     The  following  are  the  first  lines  of  his  hymns  \\hich 
have  been  most  widely  and  frequently  sung:  ''Whosoever  heareth,  shout, 
shout  the  sound,"  "Almost  persuaded,  now  to  believe,"  "Ho,  my  com- 
rades! see  the  signal,"  "Light  in  the  darkness,  sailor,  day  is  at  hand," 
"Down  life's  dark  vale  we  wander,"  "IMore  holiness  give  me,"  "Onlv  an 
armor-bearer."  "A  long  time  I  wandered,"  "Brightly  beams  our  Father's 
mercy,"  "Free  from  the  law,  O  happy  condition,"  "Have  you  on  the  Lord 


HYMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF     THE    Y.  M.   C.  A.       65 

believed?"  "I  know  not  the  hour  when  my  Lord  wih  come,"  "The  whole 
world  was  lost  in  the  darkness  of  sin,"  "Repeat  the  story  o'er  and  o'er,'' 
"I  will  sing  of  my  Redeemer,"  "Sing  them  over  again  to  me." 

In  Boston,  January  7th,  1877,  a  meeting  in  memory  of  ^Ir.  Bliss 
was  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Association.  Dr.  Eben  Tourjee  led  the 
music,  which  was  confined  to  the  singing  of  the  hymns  of  Mr.  and  ^Irs. 
Bliss.  Rev.  ^L.  R.  Deming  spoke  concerning  the  power  of  their  Gospel 
Songs. 

Major  D.  W.  Whittle  wrote  "Christ  is  All"  for  P.  P.  Bliss  in  1875.  It 
was  his  first  hymn.  Before  it  had  been  set  to  music  Mr.  Bliss  and  his 
wife  met  death  in  the  Ashtabula  disaster,  Ohio.  The  hymn  was  found 
afterward  in  their  trunk.  James  McGranahan  composed  the  music  for  it. 
Thereafter  ]\Ir.  Whittle  was  a  frequent  writer  of  hymns  and  Dwight  L. 
]^Ioodv  pronounced  some  of  them  to  be  among  the  best  hymns  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Like  Fanny  Crosby,  Major  Whittle  often  concealed 
his  identity,  and  it  might  almost  be  said  that  he  revealed  his  identity  by 
the  use  of  his  initials,  by  giving  them  in  the  reverse  order  and  by  the  use 
of  a  nom  de  plume,  the  most  frequent  one  being  "El  Xathan."  The  first 
lines  of  his  best  known  hymns  are  as  follows:  "When  God  the  way  of  life 
would  teach."  "There  shall  be  showers  of  blessings,"  "Our  Lord  is  now" 
rejected,"  "Come  on  the  wings  of  the  morning,"  "Fierce  and  wild  the 
storm  is  raging,''  "While  we  pray,  and  while  we  plead." 

The  record  of  "Aloment  by  ^Moment"  based  on  Isaiah  27:3,  is  that 

^Irs.  A ,  a  widow,  had  been  forced  to  sue  for  the  rent  of  a  house  that 

she  owned,  the  occupant  of  which  was  a  tenant  who  mocked  and  jeered 
at  her  when  she  applied  for  the  rent.  She  had  come  to  feel  that  God  had 
forsaken  her  when  she  saw  a  notice  of  some  meetings  in  the  East  As- 
sembly hall,  conducted  by  Rev.  Andrew  ^lurray.  The  notice  read 
"Three  days  with  God.''  She  was  starting  to  attend  them  and  had  her 
hand  on  the  door  when  a  young  policeman  knocked,  asking  "Does  Mrs. 

A live  here?    ^ly  wife  is  dying — I  must  be  on  my  beat.''    She  halted 

for  a  monient  between  two  opinions,  whether  to  go  to  the  meetings  or  to 
the  dying  woman.  She  decided  in  favor  of  caring  for  the  policeman's 
sick  wife  who  had  been  nursed  by  a  drimken  woman  and  who  was  in 
agony,  at  intervals  crying  aloud  with  pain.  "Xo  quiet  days  with  God 
for  me,"  she  thought.  On  the  following  morning  she  was  relieved  by  a 
neighbor  and  returned  to  her  home,  and  in  the  afternoon  went  to  Mr. 
Alurray's  meeting.  The  theme  was  "Love,''  and  it  raised  the  question 
in  her  mind  whether  she  could  love  the  man  whose  jeering  and  refusal  of 
rent  occasioned  her  financial  distress.  Air.  ^Murray  urged  his  hearers  to 
kneel  in  silent  prayer,  and  pour  out  their  hearts  to  God.     She  confessed 


66  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.   C.  A. 

her  hatred  of  her  tenant,  and  her  doubts  of  God's  love  arid  pleaded  for 
forgiveness  and  the  idling  of  her  own  soul  with  the  love  of  God.  Her 
prayer  was  answered  and  as  she  arose  Major  Whittle's  hymn  "Moment 
by  Moment"  was  given  out.     It  thrilled  her,  especially  the  last  stanza: 

"Never  a  battle  with  wrong  for  the  right, 
Never  a  contest  that  He  does  not  fight ; 
Lifting  above   iis   His  banner  so  bright. 
Moment  by  moment  I'm  kept  in  His  sight." 

She  returned  to  the  evening  meeting  and  then  returned  to  the  sick-room 
of  the  policeman's  wife.  The  invalid  said  to  her,  "How  rested  you  look," 
and  she  replied,  "I  have  been  to  the  East  End  and  have  got  such  a  bless- 
ing that  all  my  care  is  gone  and  I  have  brought  you  a  w^onderful  hymn," 
which  she  read.  "Read  it  again,"  said  the  sick  woman  as  she  subsided  into 
quietude.  About  midnight  an  elderly  lady  of  seventy-six  years  inquired 
concerning  her  condition  and  the  sick  woman  replied,  "My  nurse  has 
brought  me  a  beautiful  hymn,  which  will  do  you  good  too,"  and  the 
hymn  was  read  again.  Within  a  few  moments  the  hymn  was  read  four 
times.  In  the  morning  the  old  lady  came  and  asked  if  the  nurse  would 
visit  her  mother,  aged  ninety-six,  up-stairs,  and  read  the  wonderful  hymn 
to  her.  The  visit  was  made,  and  this  mother  proved  to  be  a  sweet- 
faced,  bright  woman,  notwithstanding  her  extreme  age.     'T  hear  that 

you  have  a  w^onderful  hymn  that  has  done  Mrs.  S good.    Nurse  and  I 

want  you  to  read  it  to  me.     I'm  very  miserable."    "What's  the  matter?" 

inquired   Mrs.  A .     "My  sins,"  she  answ-ered.     "What's  the  hymn 

you  have  brought  fromi  the  East  End?"    It  was  read  again.    On  Sunday 

morning  Mrs.  A was  surprised  to  find  that  the  old  lady  of  ninety-six 

had  called  on  her.     "I  have  come  to  tell  Mrs.  S that  if  she  knows  the 

hymn  she  will  soon  get  well  again."  She  had  found  the  "peace  that 
passeth  all  understanding."  She  talked  to  the  invalid  policeman's  wife 
of  her  new-found  peace,  then  her  daughter  of  seventy-six  found  the  same 
peace,  and  then  the  policeman  himself.  And  soon  they  were  all  able  to 
gather  in  the  parlor  and  every  night  they  were  accustomed  to  sing  the 
hymn.     The  neighbors  inquired  what  new  song  it  was.     The  time  came 

when  Mrs.  A was  to  go  to  court  in  litigation  with  her  tenant  and  her 

patient  was  convalescent  enough  to  accompany  her.     "Be  sure,"  said 

Mrs.  A ,  "that  you  read  me  my  verse  just  before  I  am  called  into  the 

witness  box."  And  her  favorite  verse  was  read.  Her  presence  in  court 
was  short,  and  her  tenant  was  dispossessed,  and  thus  she  proved  the  real- 
ity of  the  blessing  of  God  bestowed  "Moment  bv  Moment."  The  hymn 
is  in  the  latest  edition  of  "Church  Hvmns  and  Gospel  Songs." 


HVMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF     THE    V.  J/.   C.  A.         07 

^Ir.  Sankey  is  the  chief  singer  and  survivor  of  the  evaiigehstic  school 
of  authors  and  composers,  whose  work  is  included  in  the  popular  title 
of  this  class  of  hymns,  viz,  "Gospel  Hymns." 

The  junior  members  of  this  school  are  well-known  and  tiieir  reputations 
and  usefulness  are  secondary  only  to  the  career  and  record  of  ]\Ir.  Bliss 
and  ]\Ir.  Sankey.  ]Mr.  Bliss  wrote  many  hymns;  ]\Ir.  Sankey  has  written 
but  few.  He  has  composed  numerous  tunes,  from  choice  and  from  neces- 
sity. He  realizes  fully  that  a  hymn  needs  wings;  that  poetry  and  music 
must  be  happily  combined  in  order  to  circulate  a  hymn  among  the  plain 
people  and  around  the  world.  The  Rev.  Elias  Xason,  an  authority  on 
hymnology,  wrote  that  never,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  course  of  Christiati- 
ity  have  any  songs  turned,  in  so  brief  a  period,  so  man;,'  hearts  to  seek 
the  Lord,  as  those  of  ^Ir.  Bliss;  never,  perhaps,  has  any  voice  ever 
preached  the  gospel  so  efifectively  in  song  as  that  of  ^Ir.  Sankey. 

James  AIcGranahan,  teacher,  leader,  composer,  evangelist,  is  descended 
from  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  whose  religious  life  was  drawn  in  large  part 
from  the  psalms  (in  meter.)  He  is  a  Pennsylvanian,  a  native  of  Crawford 
County,  and  Pennsylvania  has  given  the  United  States  and  the  world 
four  of  its  most  noted  gospel  singers, — Sankey,  Bliss.  Towner  and  'Mc- 
Granahan.  He  was  one  of  a  rather  large  family  of  children,  all  of  whom 
were  lovers  of  music,  and  most  of  whom  were  good  singers.  His  earlv  mu- 
sical education  was  obtained  in  company  with  the  lads  and  lasses  of  the 
neighborhood,  at  the  old-fashioned  singing-school  where  he  sometimes 
assisted  by  playing  the  bassviol.  At  nineteen  he  was  himself  the  teacher, 
and  in  this  way  obtained  the  means  to  attend  the  Xormal  ]\Iusic  School, 
founded  at  Geneseo.  X.  Y..  by  William  B.  Bradbury.  There  he  had  the 
opportunity  of  pursuing  his  studies  under  the  foremost  teacher  of  the 
day — Carlo  Bassini.  The  first  term  at  this  school  was  a  \  eritable  revela- 
tion to  the  young  singer,  unfolding  to  his  vision  the  boundless  wealth  and 
beauty  of  singing,  at  which  he  had  but  dimly  guessed.  Henceforth 
his  life  was  given  to  music  and  song.  There  he  met  the  young  lady  who 
afterward  became  his  wife,  :\Iiss  Addie  \'ickery,  the  principal  of  Rush- 
ford  Academy  of  Music,  herself  an  accomplished  musician  and  in- 
structor of  piano  in  Belfast  Seminary,  and  an  accompanist  who  became 
an  efficient  helper  in  his  later  institutes,  conventions  and  evangelistic 
work. 

In  1862  he  became  associated  with  the  late  J.  G.  Towner,  and  for  two 
years  they  held  conventions  and  made  concert  tours  in  Pennsvlvania  and 
New^  York.  Mr.  :McGranahan  continued  his  musical  studies  under  Bas  • 
sini,  Webb,  O'Neill  and  others,  studying  the  art  of  teaching  with  that 
prince  of  teachers.  Dr.  George  F.  Root,  the  art  of  conducting  with  Carl 


68  HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Zerrahn,  harmony  under  Dr.  Mason,  J.  C.  D.  Parker,  F.  W.  Root  and 
others,  and  in  1875  he  accepted  a  position  in  the  management  of  the 
National  Normal  Institute.  He  served  as  director  and  teacher  for  three 
years.  Dr.  George  F.  Root  continuing  as  principal.  He  won  an  enviable 
reputation  in  his  convention  work,  and  by  his  glees,  chorus  and  class 
music  and  Sabbath-school  songs  published  from  time  to  time.  He  be- 
came a  cultured  musician  with  a  wide  and  growing  reputation,  his  solo 
work  attracting  much  attention. 

From  his  earliest  years  his  tenor  voice  had  been  a  delight  to  his 
auditors,  and  from  some  of  his  most  eminent  teachers  came  the  proposal 
that  he  should  enter  upon  a  course  of  special  training  for  the  operatic 
stage.  But  P.  P.  Bliss,  who  had  given  his  own  wondrous  voice  to  the  serv- 
ice of  song  for  Christ,  was  urging  Mr.  McGranahan  to  do  likewise.  Com- 
paring his  long  course  of  study  and  training  to  a  man  "whetting  his 
scythe,"  he  insisted  that  his  friend  should  "stop  whetting  his  scythe,  and 
strike  into  the  grain  to  reap  for  the  Master."  Mr.  McGranahan,  how- 
ever, felt  distrustful  both  of  his  adaptation  to  such  work  and  of  his  call 
to  enter  upon  it.  Then  came  the  dreadful  catastrophe  at  Ashtabula,  in 
which  Bliss  was  swept  away.  Major  Whittle  felt  and  said  that  Mr.  Mc- 
Granahan was  commissioned  to  take  up  the  work  of  the  lost  singer. 
When  he  became  willing  that  God  should  decide  for  him,  the  decision 
came  at  once.  Responding  to  his  request,  letters  came  from  various 
places  where  he  had  engagements  for  musical  work,  releasing  him,  and 
within  three  months  he  was  free. 

From  that  time  his  life  has  been  given  to  the  cause  of  sacred  song. 
Associated  with  Major  Whittle,  his  labors  were  incessant,  for  about 
eleven  years.  After  several  years  spent  in  the  United  States  they  were 
called  in  1880  to  Great  Britain,  where  they  held  large  meetings  in  various 
parts  of  London,  in  cooperation  with  leading  ministers  of  the  city,  and 
afterward  spent  some  time  in  Perth,  Glasgow,  Dundee,  Aberdeen,  Bel- 
fast, Edinburgh  and  other  places.  Three  years  later  they  again  visited 
Great  Britain,  this  time  in  company  with  Moody  and  Sankey,  cooperating 
with-  them  in  their  work  in  a  six  months'  campaign  in  London  and  also 
in  the  south  of  Ireland.  About  six  years  later  his  health  became  im- 
paired, and  lie  has  been  compelled  to  be  less  of  a  singer  and  more  of  a 
composer,  and  the  world  is  still  enriched  by  his  new  songs  or  hymns. 

He  has  1)een  deeply  interested  in  the  various  forms  of  religious  work 
instituted  by  Mr.  Moody,  and  especially  in  the  schools  which  he  estab- 
lished at  Northfield  and  Mt.  Hermon,  Mass.  A  very  considerable  part 
of  the  expenses  of  these  schools  has  been  met  by  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  hynm-books  com])osed  or  comjMlcd  in  part  by  ^Ir.  ^McGranahan. 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.   C.  A.  69 

With  his  friend,  C.  C.  Case,  he  has  been  instrumental  in  the  formation 
and  management  of  the  Kinsman  Moody  Association  which  provides  for 
an  annual  two-day  open  air  gospel  meeting,  in  a  natural  amphitheatre 
fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  At  the  sessions  of  this  meeting  audiences  of 
ten  thousand  people  have  listened  with  deep  attention  to  the  words  of  I). 
L.  Moody,  R.  A.  Torrey,  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  A.  C.  Dixon,  O.  O.  How- 
ard, F.  C.  Ottman  and  other  noted  ministers  and  teachers. 

Mr.  McGranahan's  compositions  are  deeply  imbued  with  Biblical 
thought.  They  take  hold  of  the  heart.  Such  songs  as  "Showers  of 
blessing,  "The  crowning  day,"  "My  Redeemer,"  "I  shall  be  satisfied," 
"They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord,"  "Come  unto  me,"  "Sometime  we  '11 
understand,"  "That  will  be  heaven  for  me,"  have  become  classics  of 
their  kind. 

To  Mr.  McGranahan  is  due  the  inception  of  the  male  choir  in  gospel 
singing.  It  was  first  employed  by  him  at  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  It 
was  the  force  of  circumstances  that  led  him  to  become  the  pioneer  in 
what  has  since  been  so  useful  a  department  of  the  Song  Service,  but  its 
advantages  were  soon  evident  and  the  "Gospel  Male  Choir'^'  Nos.  i  and 
2,  written  for  the  use  of  such  choirs,  was  one  result.  Another  is  that  the 
male  choir  or  quartette  has  become  a  recognized  factor  in  gospel  work. 

Some  of  Mr.  McGranahan's  publications  are  "The  Choice"  and  "The 
Harvest  of  Song,"  glee  and  chorus  books  with  C.  C.  Case,  "The  Gospel 
Male  Choir,"  Nos.  i  and  2,  "The  Gospel  Choir"  with  Sankey,  "Gospel 
Hymns,"  Nos.  3,  4,  5  and  6  with  Sankey  and  Stebbins,  "Songs  of  the  Gos- 
pel," "The  Christian  Choir"  and  "The  Male  Chorus  Book,"  published  m 
England,  "Sacred  Songs,"  Nos.  i  and  2  with  Sankey  and  Stebbins. 

Mr.  McGranahan's  home  is  in  Kinsman,  O. 

The  father  of  D.  B.  Towner  (1850 ),  was  a  music  teacher  and  a  fine 

singer.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  the  son  was  teaching  vocal  music  classes 
in  connection  with  his  father's  conventions  and  musical  mstitutes.  Mr. 
Towner  continued  teaching  in  northeastern  Pennsylvania  and  southern 
central  New  York  for  several  years,  making  his  home  at  Binghamton, 
where  he  w^as  in  charge  of  the  music  in  the  Centenary  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  From  there  he  went  to  Cincinnati  and  had  charge  of  the 
music  in  the  York  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  There  he  be- 
came interested  in  evangelistic  singing.  He  has  led  the  singing  at  the 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Kansas  state  conventions. 
For  the  last  sixteen  years  he  has  been  connected  with  Mr.  Moody's  work 
and  has  had  charge  of  the  singing  at  all  of  the  student  conferences  at 
Northfield  and  Mount  Hermon.    He  is  the  author  of  several  gospel  hymn 


70 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.   C.  A. 


books  cind  has  contributed  to  the  leading  gospel  song  books  for  the  last 
fifteen  or  twenty  years. 

George    C.    Stebbins    (1846-  )    holds   high    rank   in   this   grou])   of 

singers  and  composers.  In  1874  he  settled  in  Boston  and  assumed  the 
directorship  of  music  in  the  Clarendon  Street  Baptist  Church,  of  which 
Rev.  A.  J.  Gordon,  D.D.,  was  pastor,  and  afterward  was  appointed  to 
the  same  position  in  Tremont  Temple.  During  the  summer  of  1876  he 
w^ent  to  North  field  to  spend  a  few  days  with  Mr.  Moody.  It  was  during 
his  visit  there  that  his  connection  with  Moody  and  Sankey  began,  and 
his  entrance  into  evangelistic  work.  In  1877  he  became  one  of  the 
authors  of  the  series  of  "Gospel  Hymns  and  Sacred  Songs/'  Mr.  Sankey 
and  Mr.  James  McGranahan  being  the  other  authors  and  compilers.  Air. 
Stebbins  spent  the  winter  of  1880  and  1881  in  San  Francisco,  associated 
with  Moody  and  Sankey,  and  in  the  spring  of  1882  went  to  assist  them 
in  the  close  of  their  work  in  Scotland.  In  the  winter  of  1888  and  1889  he 
assisted   Mr.   Moody  on  the   Pacific  coast.     In   1890  he  w-ent  with  Dr. 

George   F.    Pentecost    to   India. 
■^^  ^U'  (^^^WWMmma/.^      They  visited   Egypt   and   Pales- 

tine, where  Dr.  Pentecost 
preached  and  Mr.  Stebbins  sang 
in  the  principal  cities.  ]\Ir.  Steb- 
bins has  been  for  thirty  years  an 
evangelistic  and  Association 
singer  and  his  services  are  still  in 
demand  for  evangelistic  services, 
conventions  of  Young  ]\Ien's 
Christian  Associations  a  n  d 
Young  Peoples'  Societies  of 
Christian  Endeavor.  He  was  a 
leader  of  the  music  at  the  Jubi- 
lee Y.  M.  C.  A.  convention,  in 
Boston,  June  nth  to  i6th,  1901. 
He  is  the  author  of  many  well- 
known  tunes,  among  them  being 
those  accompanying  the  follow- 
ing hynms :  ''Saviour,  breathe  an 
evening  blessing,"  *'The  Home- 
land," "Take  time  to  1)e  holy," 
There    is    a    ereen    hill     far    awav." 


ROBERT  WEIDENSALL, 


Association  Ilymnist. 

"True-hearted,    wdiole-hearted, 

Robert  Weidensall,  the  first  secretary  of  the  International  Y.  M.  C.  A 
Connnittee,  whose  versatilitv  in  Association  work  and  historic  connec 


HYMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    Y.  AL   C.  A.  71 

tion  with  all  its  phases  place  him  in  the  front  rank  of  secretaries,  wrote 
the  "Rallying  Song"  of  the  Y.  ^I.  C.  A.  in  1872.  The  tune  for  it  was  com- 
posed bv  \Mlliam  H.  Doane.  It  was  sung  in  the  International  Conven- 
tion at  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  1872. 

He  wrote  a  second  hymn  about  1890,  which  was  set  to  music  by  Air. 
Stebbins,  and  published  by  the  Bigelow  &  Main  Co.  It  has  been  sung 
in  many  Y.  M.  C.  A.  conventions,  and  at  one  time  in  the  Xew  York  con- 
vention the  singing  was  led  by  the  composer  of  the  tune,  Mr.  Stebbins. 
It  was  published  in  the  "Young  Men's  Era,"  November  r3th,  1890.  The 
title  was  "Young  Men  in  Christ,  the  Lord."  It  was  dedicated  to  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of  the  world.     Its  first  couplet  was: 

"Young  men  in  Christ,  the  Lord. 
Own  Him  your  Saviour,  God." 

It  consisted  of  six  seven-line  stanzas.  It  gave  expression  to  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  founded  and 
according  to  which  its  work  is  conducted.  It  has  been  tried  and  found 
very  effective  when  sung  by  a  male  choir.  The  first  three  verses  em- 
phasize the  strong  points  in  the  declaration  of  faith  of  the  first  world's 
conference  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  at  Paris  in  1855, 
and  in  the  Portland  EvangeHcal  test  adopted  in  1869.  It  can  be  sung 
to  the  tune  "America."  It  was  published  in  "Gospel  Hymns"  Xo.  6, 
compiled  by  Messrs.  Sankey,  Stebbins  and  McGranahan. 

General  Secretary  George  A.  Warburton,  of  the  Railroad  Associations 
of  New^  York  city,  and  of  the  Association  having  its  quarters  in  the  Xew 
York  Railroad  Men's  building,  and  also  editor  of  "New  York  Railroad 
Men,"  was  led  to  realize  that  he  had  the  hymnal  gift  by  writing  ''The 
Hymn  of  Praise."  He  gave  it  to  a  musical  friend,  who  in  turn  handed  it 
to  Mr.  C.  B.  Rutenber,  a  composer,  who  set  it  to  music  for  a  quartette. 
This  setting  has  been  used  frequently  in  New  York  City,  especially  in  the 
services  of  the  Marble  Collegiate  Church,  Fifth  Avenue  and  Twenty- 
Ninth  Street.  Messrs.  Sankey  and  Stebbins  and  Mrs.  Van  Alstyne  have 
encouraged  Air.  Warburton  to  realize  that  he  can  write  acceptable  hymns 
Mr.  Stebbins  set  to  music  the  verses,  beginning  "Impatient  heart,  be 
still."  When  he  wrote  them,  his  mother  was  very  ill,  and,  having  been  an 
invalid  for  several  years,  was  longing  for  deliverance  by  death.  He  wrote 
the  hymn  in  the  little  cottage  where  she  lived,  and  chiefly  for  her  comfort. 
He  was  surprised  when  it  was  set  to  music,  and  more  surprised  when  he 
found  it  coming  into  common  use.    It  is  No.  56  in  "Sacred  Songs,"  No.  I. 


72         HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    V.  M.   C.  A. 

"God  of  our  fathers,  who  didst  guide." 

is  a  patriotic  hymn,  somewhat  similar  in  sentiment  to  Leonard  Bacon's 

"O  God,  beneath  thy  guiding  hand, 
Our  exiled  fathers  crossed  the  sea." 

w 

It  was  written  in  Bangor,  Maine,  where  Mr.  Warburton  spent  July  4th, 
on  his  way  into  the  Maine  woods  for  his  summei  vacation.  It  appears  in 
the  "Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Supplement"  to  "Church 
Hymns  and  Gospel  Songs."  It  is  No.  267  in  "Praise  Songs,"  compiled 
by  Arthur  H.  Dadmun,  secretary  of  the  Association  in  Auburn,  New 
York,  who  assigns  the  authorship  to  the  year  1896.  Mr.  \\^arburton  has 
been  accustomed  to  write  anniversary  hymns  for  the  Railroad  Associa- 
tions in  New  Y^ork. 

"Jesus,  the  children's  friend,  to  Thee," 

was  written  for  one  of  his  own  children. 

"Lord,  make  my  troubled  soul  to  be." 

was  written  on  the  train  between  Tarrytown  and  New  Y'ork.  He  noticed 
that  the  Hudson  river  was  beautifully  calm  and  reflected  not  only  the 
sunshine,  but  all  objects,  w^ith  the  utmost  clearness.  This  thought  was 
carried  along  through  the  stanzas.  The  hymn  is  held  in  manuscript,  not 
yet  published. 

C.  B.  Willis  (1849-  )'  ^t  the  age  of  eighteen  became  active  in  the 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  Association.  For  eleven  years  he  served  on  the 
various  committees  and  during  that  time  his  al)ility  as  a  leader  of  song 
was  developed.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  singing  during  the 
Tenth  International  Conference  of  the  Railroad  Department  in  Phila- 
delphia in  the  Fall  of  1900,  and  of  the  Jubilee  Convention  in  Boston,  in 
the  summer  of  1901. 

There  is  a  well-known  and  useful  Association  Quartette,  E.  \V.  Peck, 
Paul  Gilbert.  C.  M.  Keeler  and  P.  H.  Metcalf,  that  also  sang  in  the  Rail- 
road Conference  and  in  the  Jubilee  Convention. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  been  the  subject  of  discussion  more 
or  less  constantly  with  reference  to  its  relationship  to  the  churches,  it 
seems  a])propriate  to  quote  the  hymn  of  George  F.  Root,  which  had  its 
origin  in  the  cantata  ''Under  the  Palms."  The  cantata  was  written  for 
the  service  of  choirs  and  Sunday-schools  and  was  published  by  John 
Church   &  Co.,  Cincinnati.     It  was  very  popular  in  England  and  was 


GEORGE  WARBURTON, 
Railroad  Secretary  and  Hymnist. 


HYMNS    AND    SINGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.   C.  A. 


I  0 


adopted  in  Mr.  Spurgeon's  hymn-book,  entitled  "Our  Own  Hymn-Book," 
and  in  British  and  American  Hymnals.  It  is  similar  to  President 
Dwight's 

"I  love  Thy  Kingdom  Lord, 
The  house  of  Thine  abode." 

The  officials  and  members  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  would  subscribe  to  both 
hymns  with  the  utmost  sincerity. 

O     CHURCH    OF    CHRIST. 

G.  F.  Root.  1820. 

"O  Church  of  Christ,  our  blest  abode, 

Celestial  grace  is  thine ; 
Thou  art  the  dwelling-place  of  God, 

the  gate  of  joys  divine. 

Chorus. 

Where'er  for  me  the  sun  may  set. 

Wherever  I  may  dwell. 
My  heart  shall  nevermore  forget 

Thy  courts,  Immanuel. 

O  Church  of  Christ,  O  Church  of  Christ, 

I  came  to  thee  for  rest, 
And  found  it  more  than  earthly  peace 

To  be  Immanuel's  guest. 

Whene'er  I  come  to  thee  in  joy. 

Whene'er  I  come  in  tears. 
Still  at  the  gate  called  Beautiful 

My  risen  Lord  appears." 


CHAPTER  \'ll 


THE    FUTURE     OF    HYMNS    AND    SINGERS 


There  are  diversities  of  gifts  but  the  same  spirit.  This  is  as  true  in 
hymnology,  in  the  authorship  of  hymns  and  the  composition  of  tunes, 
as  in  any  other  sphere  of  literary  hfe,  or  range  of  musical  expression. 
Neither  class  of  hymnists  or  composers  has  the  right  to  ignore  or  de- 
preciate the  other  class.  Each  is  under  moral  obligation  to  appreciate 
the  other.  Providence  has  honored  and  will  honor  both  classes.  The 
desire  for  progress,  for  an  advance  in  popular  taste  and  preferences  is 
legitimate.  High  art  is  needed.  But  hymns  and  tunes  are  like  authors 
and  composers.  They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be.  It  is  no  more 
true  of  Gospel  Hymns  than  it  is  of  literary  hymns  and  the  upper  grade  of 
tunes.  Men  and  institutions  die.  Customs  and  habits  cliange.  Tastes 
differ.  It  is  superciliousness  for  one  class  of  hymnists  or  musicians  to 
say  to  the  other:  'T  have  no  need  of  thee,"  especially  after  a  career  of 
usefulness  extending  over  a  generation  and  circling  around  the  world  in 
many  or  all  of  earth's  varied  languages.     ''Gospel  Hymns"  can  safely 

challenge  any  other  class  of  hymns 
to  produce  equal  or  superior  cre- 
dentials of  favor  with  God  and  man. 
They  have  been  generated  by  those 
who  have  had  a  consuming  Chris- 
tian zeal  and  a  preeminent  wisdom 
and  success  in  the  history  of  evan- 
gelism. They  have  survived  much 
longer  than  numerous  popular  bal- 
lads and  especially  the  war  songs  of 
1861-5.  Another  revival  of  spirit- 
ual life  would  generate,  without 
doubt,  its  own  class  and  grade  of 
hymns,  precisely  as  the  Lutheran 
Reformation  did,  and  the  \\>s- 
leyan  movement,  and  the  Sabbath- 
schools  and  even  the  Negro  illiter- 
ates and  the  Salvation  Army. 
Mr.  Sankey  is  delivering  addresses  in  various  parts  of  the  country  on 
lis   trip   through   Egypt   and    Palestine,   and  is  also  giving  his  popular 


IRA   D.  SAN  KEY, 
The  sweetest  singer. 


HYMXS    AXD    SIXGERS    OF    THE    Y.  M.   C.  A.  77 

"Service  of  Song  and  Story."  He  is  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  young 
men  of  like  spirit  whom  he  can  train  as  gospel  singers  to  take  up  his 
special  line  of  work  when  he  has  ceased  to  sing.  He  has  received  great 
encouragement  in  the  undertaking,  both  in  Great  Britain  and  America. 

^Meanwhile,  the  love  of  the  old  and  standard  and  more  permanent 
hymns,  and  of  the  great  historic  tunes,  is  perfectly  proper  and  natural. 
It  is  recognized  in  the  very  title  of  "Church  Hymns  and  Caospel  Songs." 
It  is  represented  by  such  Association  secretaries  as  G.  K.  ShurtlefTf,  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Arthur  H.  Dadmun,  of  Auburn,  Xew  York. 

It  has  been  pleaded  for  and  put  into  operation  by  such  a  typical  com- 
piler and  leader  in  Association  Conventions  as  President  Charles  Cuth- 
bert  Hall,  D.D.,  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Xew  York.  In  his 
introduction  to  Secretary  Dadmun's  "Praise  Songs,"  published  by  May- 
nard,  [Merrill  &  Co.,  in  1898,  President  Hall  wrote  as  follows: 

"\Miile  conscious  of  the  great  good  accomplished  by  the  popular 
Gospel  Hymns,  and  while  unwilling  to  lay  aside  some  of  those  hymns, 
so  closely  associated  with  modern  evangelistic  movements,  many  per- 
sons engaged  in  Association  work  believe  that  the  time  has  come  for  a 
new  hymnal,  drawing  its  material  from  a  broader  region  of  supply. 

The  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  have  been  marked  by  great  advancement 
of  knowledge  and  great  education  of  taste  in  matters  relating  to  public 
worship.  ...  It  is  now  thought  to  be  desirable  that  provision  be  made 
for  a  corresponding  advance  in  the  religious  music  of  the  Christian  As- 
sociation." 

No  effort  was  made  to  incorporate  into  the  Hymnal  prepared  by  Pres- 
ident Hall  for  the  Jt^bilee  Convention  in  Boston  a  large  niuiiber  of  hymns 
having  special  connection  with  the  traditions  of  the  Association.  It  was 
a  small  group  of  the  greatest  and  noblest  hymns,  appropriate  for  so  great 
and  noble  an  occasion. 

There  should  be  union  and  cooperation  between  varying  believers  in 
the  old  and  new  hymns  and  tunes:  in  popular  and  select  hymns  and 
tunes:  in  Church  Hymns  and  Gospel  Songs;  in  hymns  and  tunes  that 
appeal  to  the  head  chiefly  and  in  other  hymns  and  times  that  appeal  to 
the  heart  chiefly:  in  hymns  and  tunes  that  are  long-lived  and  that  are 
short-lived;  in  those  which  awaken  emotions  and  those  that  awaken  veri- 
table saints  and  sinners;  in  those  which  are  for  to-dav  and  the  remnant, 
which  are  for  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  the  very  few  that  will  outlive 
the  Twentieth  Centurv. 


